Tag Archives: mobile banking

Mobile banking reaches critical mass for big banks

The 4Q11 financials from both JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo underline the extent to which mobile banking has emerged as a key banking channel, while also indicating that online penetration may have reached a ceiling.

  • Chase:
    • Between 4Q10 and 4Q11, Chase grew its active mobile banking customers by 57%, while during the same period active online banking customers increased by 3%
    • Active online banking customers as a percentage of total Chase checking customers rose from 62% in 4Q10 to 65% in 1Q11, but has remained at 65% for the three subsequent quarters.  Active mobile customers as a percentage of checking customers rose from 20% in 4Q10 to 32% in 4Q11
    • Active mobile customers as a percentage of active online customers rose from 32% in 4Q10 to 48% in 4Q11
    • The rate of growth in active mobile customers does not yet show signs of abating.  The quarterly growth rate fell from 13% in 1Q11 to 9% in 2Q11, but then increased to 10% in 3Q11 and again to 16% in the most recent quarter

  • Wells Fargo:
    • Active mobile customers increased 55% between 4Q10 and 4Q11.  During this period, active online customers rose 8%
    • Active mobile customers as a percentage of active online customers rose from 26% in 4Q10 to 37% in 4Q11

Financial Services Marketing Symposium 2011: Marketing Critical to Driving Adoption of Mobile Technology

Mobile banking was a hot topic at last month’s Financial Services Marketing Symposium. Apps and mobile-friendly online banking sites are proliferating at a rapid rate, and Frank Aloi of ath Power Consulting revealed some research that shows why: mobile banking users are very active, and with the low cost of mobile banking transactions, they are also more profitable than other customers.

What’s more, John Auger of Citizens Financial Group showed that for his organization, the average mobile customer is not only more active in mobile banking, but in all channels:

To capture the opportunity in the mobile space, banks can’t rely on product development alone – a robust communications strategy is a must for successful adoption.  Although the benefits of new technology may seem obvious to those who develop the innovations, consumers need to be shown exactly why new technology is significantly better than the banking and payments solutions they already have, according to conference speakers from Citibank and RBS Citizens.