Smartphone Banking Capabilities Are Lacking, According to New Research from the Auriemma Consulting Group

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Smartphones are considered to be the singularly most engaging opportunity within the payment space, yet recent research by the Auriemma Consulting Group (ACG) suggests that banks have not kept up with consumer demand for enhanced smartphone apps and capabilities.

“Improving smartphone offerings has become necessary for issuers to stay on-par with the competition, and maintain consumer loyalty and engagement over upcoming years. Particularly as the payments industry delivers on consumer demand for mobile payments”

51.6% of UK consumers currently own a smartphone, and strong growth is forecasted to continue, with ownership expected to increase by at least 16% over the next two years. Consumers primarily use desktop/laptops to access financial services information, because limited capabilities are available on smartphones (65% of desktop owners vs. 23% of smartphone owners use their device to access their financial services account). The difference in capabilities is evident when comparing consumer usage of banking features across devices.

Smartphone Financial Services Capabilities Accessed:

• Smartphone banking capabilities with a high penetration rate: Review account balances, view a selection of recent transactions and pay bills
• Smartphone banking capabilities with a low penetration rate: Transfer money between accounts and/or to others, review details across multiple accounts, review full view account history and redeem rewards

“Given the continued growth forecasted and high consumer usage and engagement with smartphones, the research clearly shows that there are gaps in smartphone banking capabilities”, said Mark Jackson, Director at ACG. “Improving smartphone offerings has become necessary for issuers to stay on-par with the competition, and maintain consumer loyalty and engagement over upcoming years. Particularly as the payments industry delivers on consumer demand for mobile payments”.

Behaviour of Device Owners who Access Banking Capabilities on their Device
Behaviour	Smartphone	Desktop
Reviewed account balances	69.2%	87.5%
Reviewed recent transactions	48.3%	71.6%
Transferred money between accounts	20.0%	52.5%
Paid bills	17.5%	48.3%
Redeemed rewards	6.7%	8.8%
Transferred money to others	18.3%	37.9%
Reviewed and compared account details across multiple accounts	6.7%	11.4%
Received SMS alerts	22.5%	3.4%
Obtained bank/ATM locations and hours	10.0%	2.4%
Obtained contact information	5.0%	4.5%
Demographics: Smartphone Owners vs. Overall Population
Demographic	Smartphone Owners	Overall Population
Average income	£32,548	£28,484
Average age (years)	39.2	43.8
*Overall population reflective of consumers that hold a payment method, and are 16 or older.

About the Mobile Payments Report

The Mobile Payments Report (MPR) is a market research service that provides a comprehensive and trended insight on all aspects of mobile and e-commerce, including contactless and NFC payments. The MPR tracks consumer usage, penetration, and attitudes across more than 50 key measures on a quarterly basis, and is therefore a source of deep consumer-led insight. The service is enhanced by consulting support from payments industry practitioners to enable subscribers to shape, adapt, and prioritise mobile payments strategy based on evolving consumer needs and mindsets. For additional information about this press release, and/or to subscribe to the Mobile Payments Report, contact Mark Jackson at [e-mail] or [phone].

About Auriemma Consulting Group

Since 1984, ACG has offered comprehensive management consulting, research, industry roundtable and benchmarking services to the financial services industry. ACG clients include credit card issuers and networks, commercial banks, mortgage lenders, merchants, and industry vendors. With offices in New York and London, ACG offers actionable solutions to help clients make important business decisions to maximise their efficiencies and revenues.