Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Trends in the usage of banking channels in the US

In a recent report produced by the American Bankers Association (Read here), a clear increase in access to banking services via the Internet was reported. The US consumer now prefer to access banking services by means of the Internet. This is a very important landmark and an indication of a major shift in interaction with financial services. For the first time in the survey, a number of respondents indicated that they prefer accessing their banking services by means of mobile banking (only 1%).

It would be interesting to compare these results with countries where mobile banking has been available for a longer time (Korea, Philippines and South Africa). I am sure that one would be able to make interesting conclusions about the expected take-up of mobile banking in the US. While it probably took Internet banking fifteen years to become the preferred method of banking in the US, it is likely that this will even be faster for mobile banking (if I compare it with other markets).

It would also be interesting to find out how the sample was selected in this survey. For instance was the survey conducted telephonically or via the Internet? How big a portion of the sample was taken from lower income bank clients (or maybe migrant workers). One should also take cognisance of the fact that the demographics of bank customers are likely to change as they start making use of the extended reach that mobile provides them with. (Also read this article).

1 comment:

Nikesh Ghimire said...

I am especially concerned about the 'unknown' segment of the pie making the biggest portion of the pie - 23%.

Last year the 'unknown' portion was around 5% and at just 3% for 2007.

I am surprised why nobody felt the need to address this figure. especially since the fall in preference for branch and ATM is directly contributed by increase in this portion.

Can anybody provide any insight on it?