thinkbanking in the UK ran some analysis on who visits its website and how – and found that most mobile visitors used an iPhone, with Android visitors coming a close second.
Mind you, Android visitors are catching up as the increase in iPhone users was 266% over 12 months, compared with a 518% increase in Android phone / tablet visitors to the website over the same period.
iPads are clearly really popular too – this May, ten times as many people visited this bank account provider’s website on an iPad as a year ago.
Looking at the bigger picture, it’s clear that financial service providers are embracing mobile payments and mobile banking, reflecting the rise in consumer demand as smartphones become a part of everyday life.
Is the future of banking ‘mobile’?
Visits to thinkbanking.co.uk from PCs and Macs, which includes laptops, increased by only 137% over the year, but there was a much bigger increase in visits on mobiles, suggesting that more and more people are liking the convenience of managing their bank account while on the move.
But for some, fears about security still need to be overcome. Someone breaking into your profile on a social network isn’t likely to be anywhere near as bad as someone breaking into your bank account, so banks need to convince customers that their money is safe on their mobile.
Recent research suggests that a quarter of mobile internet users manage their bank account this way, but the figure could climb rapidly if the technology becomes more accessible and people feel their concerns about online safety are met.
The Head of PR and Communications for thinkbanking, Ian Williams, says that banks take this seriously. He commented: “Some people still have concerns regarding security – but provided banks offer the same safeguards and guarantees as they do on internet banking services, it’s likely that more and more people will start to take advantage of the benefits mobile banking can bring.”
The infrastructure for more and more mobile money management is falling into place. For example, Vodafone, O2 and Everything Everywhere (T-Mobile and Orange) are currently collaborating on ‘Project Oscar’, aiming to let people use mobile phones as wallets.
And the future could see more collaboration between mobile providers and financial services to bring more of the benefits of mobile banking to people all over the UK.
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