NZ smartphone users ahead of Aussies in mobile banking uptake
New Zealanders have been slower to take up smartphones than their Trans-Tasman counterparts-but once they get one, they are more likely to bank on them, the latest Digital Universe report from Roy Morgan Research shows.
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Just 38.6% of New Zealanders 14+ have a smartphone, compared with 59.7% of Australians 14+. But while Australia may be home to over eight times as many smartphone users overall, New Zealand's 1.4 million are more likely to use them for mobile banking activities.
In the first half of 2013, 33.5% of New Zealand's smartphone users did one or more banking and finance activity on their phone in an average four weeks, compared with 30.6% of Australian smartphone users.
Kiwi users are 24% more likely than Aussies to check bank account balances (30.5% vs 24.6%) and 33% more likely to view statements (14.2% vs 10.7%) within a four week period.
But despite these higher rates of account-checking, we are somewhat more reluctant to use our mobiles to execute actual transactions. The proportion of smartphone users making bank transactions or paying bills is almost identical in New Zealand and Australia: 21.1% of Kiwi and 21.5% of Aussie smartphoners make transactions on their phones, with 12.3% and 12.4% respectively use their phone to pay bills.