Mobile Banking 2014: Financial empowerment in the Digital Age
Mobile banking allows people to manage their money on the go. But what types of people use it most? In the ING International Survey on Mobile Banking, Social Media and Financial Behaviour 2014, we asked more than 12,000 people in Europe if they use mobile banking and found almost 5,000 who did.
Executive summary
For the second consecutive year, the ING International Survey is exploring how people in Europe are using mobile banking and new ways to pay. In what is thought to be one of the biggest and most comprehensive surveys of its type, the results of the survey reveal insights into whether mobile banking is helping users manage their money better.
1. The Netherlands, Luxembourg and Austria are again the most developed mobile banking markets in 2014, while for the second year in a row Turkey is the top mobile banking “hotspot” as it shows potential to rise significantly as internet penetration rises.
2. The almost 5,000 people surveyed who use mobile banking tend to be younger, earn more and be more on top of their financial matters than non mobile bankers. In fact, 80% indicated mobile banking had improved the way they manage their money. Our mobile bankers are more likely to read money blogs but also more prone to regularly buy something on impulse.
3. People who have been using mobile banking for longer are more likely than newer users to say the technology improved the way they manage money. It seems the positive change from mobile banking is better and better the longer it is used.
4. Fewer people in Europe are expecting banks to use social media this year, compared with the survey last year. Although the social media demand fell, many people in Europe do want personalised alerts and reminders from their bank. Mobile bankers are even more eager to get intelligent tools from their bank to help them make better financial decisions.
5. New technology is not only playing a role in the ways we bank, it also changes the ways we shop and pay. Cash is being used less often than a year ago by about half of people in Europe but the pace change over the next 12 months may not be rapid as only one-in-five of our “cash devotees” who have not cut use of cash in the last year think they will use cash less in the next year.
6. Since last year, comfort around contactless payments has risen a lot in Romania and Poland, both early adopters of the technology, with modest rises in France and Italy. However, the opinion in Europe as a whole remains split. Mobile bankers are more likely to be confident using contactless payments.
7. Despite the hype, few people in Europe see digital currencies – such as Bitcoin – as “the future of spending online”, with 76% disagreeing with that statement or not having an opinion about it.
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