Mobile banking user numbers to double in next 4 years

Are you a mobile banking user? Then this news might interest you. The number of mobile banking users globally is likely to double (1.8 billion) in the next four years.

According to a report by consultancy agency KPMG in association with UBS Evidence Lab, banks that do not have a competitive mobile banking platform stand the risk of losing out its customers.

The Global Mobile Banking Report 2015 has claimed that adoption of mobile technologies for banking has reached 60-70% of the total banking population in India and China, which is higher than that of the US and Europe.

Moreover, KPMG clarified that by the term mobile banking, it does not only mean app-based banking in smart phones, but message alerts as well.

"With the mobility of young customers between banks having increased, the days of banks taking for granted that the customers once acquired will remain sticky is history," said KPMG report.

Indian customers demonstrate the highest propensity to switch banks, encouraged by the availability of better mobile banking services, said the report.

Banks should also probe the potential of value added services in their banking apps such as social media support and life tools such as cloud storage. The report also informs the greater need for banks to collaborate with application developers to be able to build state-of-the-art mobile banking platforms.

"Customer experience and frictionless engagement will likely remain a key driver for mobile banking adoption. The winners may have to invest as much as in creating a strong perception of security as they may be required to implement technical security measures," said Akhilesh Tuteja, Partner and Head of IT advisory services, KPMG India.

The report warns banks of malware and hacking. Hence, all banks need to invest heavily in security of all mobile transactions. They need to strike a fine balance between security and a seamless user experience, it said.

(Image: Indiatimes)