The first area of improvement is to the online banking log-in pages which have been optimised for access and viewing on mobile devices. In addition, a new 'quick access' log-in has been added for customers who purely want to view their balance, statement or to make a transfer. Research undertaken by Barclays has shown that complex logging in processes put many customers off using a mobile phone for online banking.

Sean Gilchrist, Barclays Digital Banking Director said: "Today's improvements will significantly improve access to online banking for our existing mobile customers and will also reach out to new customers seeking simpler mobile access and navigation."

The second area of improvement has focused around the popular mobile branch and ATM locator which enables customers to find their nearest ATM or Barclays branch. A new mobile specific locator has been implemented with maps that adjust to fit the mobile handset which is being used.

Sean Gilchrist said: "Our research and customer feedback has shown that how the banking content fits on the screen of a mobile phone is crucial to more people using such services in the future. We believe our mobile banking service leads the market as we are the only UK bank which offers a specific mobi domain site, giving customers web pages designed specifically for viewing on mobile phones and content that customers want when on the move.

"We have seen phenomenal growth in the use of mobile banking this year and we will continue to make improvements to the service. The next phase will be to optimise other online banking services such as viewing balances, statements, transfers and payments to make mobile banking even quicker and easier for customers."

At the beginning of the year Barclays became the first UK bank to offer its mobile banking customers free Kaspersky mobile fraud protection which covers anti-virus, anti-spam and anti-theft protection.