Survey shows 38% of smartphone owners use a banking app

There’s been one quote that has stuck in mind about mobile banking in Canada. It was from Bob Hedges of Mercatus who in February 2010 stated that Canadians are “at the tipping point in terms of adoption” and “over the next five years this will become more important than online banking”. It’s been a slow adoption rate thus far but it’s certainly increasing. Last week it was PayPal Canada that came out with stats that showed 34% of those surveyed would rather carry a mobile phone to make a payment than a pocket full of change.

The latest survey is from the Toronto-based Solutions Research Group who stated that “In 14 months, the number of Canadians using mobile banking apps on their smartphones went from zero to two and a half million”. In April of this year they surveyed 419 smartphone users (not that many people really) and 38% of them use a banking app (159 people). In addition, of those 419 people 54% use an iPhone, 32% use a BlackBerry and 25% gets pushed into the “other” pile which probably has a great deal of Android users. The main reason for those who are banking by phone is for the convenience of being able to check balances and transactions, transfer, pay bills, find banking locations/ATMs. Finally, as for upcoming mobile payment features that include the ability to pay for items via your phone (NFC capabilities), 47% are aware of it and 31% say it sounds convenient. The major concern that hold people back is over security and making sure transactions are safe.

Source: SRG