It’s a 24/7 Smartphone Experience, but U.S. Mobile Banking Lags

It’s a 24/7 Smartphone Experience, but U.S. Mobile Banking Lags
January 27, 2017 Marketing GrafWebCUSO

Nearly half of Americans check their smartphones as soon as they wake up, but only 1% connect to their banking app. Meanwhile mobile banking in the U.S. lags behind other countries.

ReportLinker conducted a survey to answer three questions: What does a typical day of smartphone use looks like? What do Americans use their smartphones for? And how millennials interact with their device?

Results show that:

• 75% of Americans keep their phones active all day and night including 83% of millennials.

• 46% of Americans check their smartphones as soon as they wake up.

• Among millennials, 66% said it’s the first thing they do before getting out of bed.

When they first turn on their smartphones, connecting with friends and relatives is the top priority: more than 30% first open their emails; and 30% open social media apps first, among which Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are the most popular.

The ReportLinker survey, which reached 536 online respondents representative of the U.S. population. between Jan. 12-13 2017, revealed 37% of Americans own an iPhone, while 33% have a Samsung. Half of millennial own an iPhone.

The smartphone is predominately about connecting with others. According to ReportLinker, 37% of Americans said they most often use their smartphone for making a call, while 26% primarily use it to text. In addition, U.S. respondents said they used social media apps such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn more often than other types of apps.

When it comes to work, 56% of U.S. respondents said they limit personal smartphone use while at the office. But with more millennials in the workforce than any other generation, there is substantial blurring of the lines between work and personal use of smartphones. ReportLinker found that 60% of millennials confess to using their smartphone at work for personal matters.

Only 25% of American smartphone users switch their phone off every day. In fact, disconnecting can be hard. More than half of Americans said their last check is right before bed and 13% disconnect only after they’ve gotten into bed for the night. About 10% said they wake up and check it during the night.

What’s next? Two trends dominated the Consumer Electronics Show: artificial intelligence and machine-learning. Smartphone users are ready for greater sophistication in voice assistants. Nearly 60% of smartphone users said they know their devices have voice capabilities, and more than 50% of these users use it.

Meanwhile Washington D.C.-based Pinxter Digital suggested that while mobile banking made huge mobile strides within the last five years, the U.S. lags far behind countries such as Indonesia, China, Thailand and India.

Pinxter took a closer look at what’s contributing to this wide gap in usage.

Traditional brick-and-mortar banks played a large role. Visiting a branch in India, for example, is a dreary experience due to never-ending lines. Other countries that are on the lower end of mobile bank usage like Canada, Australia and Japan average about double the number of branches per 10,000 people than those on the higher end. There are many people who may have no choice but to go mobile if banks are too out of reach.

Promotion is a big factor as well. While U.S. financial institutions advertise mobile apps as an added benefit or complimentary product, financial institutions in high usage countries push their apps as a sole means of access. The only way to avoid those long lines or traveling far distances is by going through the phone. Mobile has become a higher priority and greater need in these places.