Banks Are Starting To Go Mobile, But Consumers Are Ho-Hum

Just as banks are starting to jump back into the mobile-banking market, a research report has emerged to indicate consumers may still not be ready to use their handsets for transaction services. Only 8% of online users who own a cell phone say they are interested in using the device to check their balances, according to the report, published by New York-based JupiterResearch. Interest in at least some payment services is even lower, with 2% indicating they would use a mobile phone to send a person-to-person payment, and 5% saying they'd use their handsets to buy something in a store. Part of the problem may be the scarcity so far of commercial mobile services at banks, says Asaf Buchner, an analyst at JupiterResearch. “There's not much out there, so it may be difficult for consumers to envision how they would use [these services] and in what way,” he says. For now, Buchner advises banks to focus on exploiting and promoting the unique advantages of mobile phones. “Don't try and cut and paste online banking to the mobile space,” he says. “It's not the same channel, and consumers won't use it in the same way.” One way banks can do this is to offer services that might be easier to use on a mobile device than on a PC or laptop. These might include last-minute payments to avoid late charges, or alerts from a bill consolidator indicating that certain bills are due. The initial setup, including details about payees, is best left to the online banking program, Buchner says. Other examples of services better suited to mobile phones could be inquiries regarding the amount left in a credit card line of credit, as well as balance inquiries, despite the current low level of interest in this service. “It's about finding the pain points where mobile can assist the consumer,” Buchner says. Payment services may help drive adoption of mobile banking, but the apparently anemic interest indicated by the research results seems to indicate banks will have to tread carefully, mixing in other services at the same time. “[Payments] are not going to be a killer app,” Buchner says. “Banks view [mobile] as a channel of the future,” he says. “Consumers are going to be on the mobile channel, so they [feel] they should be there. The attitude is if you build it they will come.” But banks that want to establish mobile-banking programs will have to find services that help customers save time or solve other problems that arise as they stray from tethered computers, he argues. For the report, JupiterResearch surveyed 2,374 adult online users in the U.S.