A report from TNS says the adoption of mobile finance around the world - using a mobile phone to make payments or to access bank account details - has surged in the last 12 months. Many countries saw the number of new mobile banking users increase by over 100%.
Last year in the UK, just 9.7% of people were using mobile phones to access their bank accounts - but the figure’s increased to 20.4% for 2011. Similarly, the USA has seen rates rise from 11.4% to 21.9%. In China, the percentage of consumers using mobile banking is now 25% - a 150% increase from last year - while Kenya has seen a rise of 200% to this year’s 18% total.
Bob Neuhaus, Global Finance Sector Head at TNS, said “Our insights from the Mobile Life study demonstrate that in more mature markets, mobile banking is simply a matter of convenience, and largely an extension of the PC online experience – allowing the same online convenience, while mobile; however in developing markets mobile may provide an entry point to banking for millions of ‘unbanked’ people, in countries where banking infrastructure is poor, and banking restrictions create barriers.”
Using mobile phones as a ‘mobile wallet’ for payments has more than doubled across emerging markets in the last 12 months, showing a much higher take-up rate than in other countries. The USA moved from 6% in 2010 to 8% in 2011, while mobile wallet usage in Chile has climbed from less than 1% in 2010 to 7% in 2011. Kenya, which already had 10% penetration last year, is now at 25% mobile wallet usage.
[TNS Mobile Life report]