Like us on mobile: Banks score high satisfaction with apps

The momentous shift in the way we bank may be happening faster than anticipated, with new research by Roy Morgan revealing that 3.5 million extra Australians are using mobile banking in 2017 than just four years ago.

Mobile banking is now the second most popular way for Aussies to manage their finances, with 41.5% of respondents to Roy Morgan’s Single Source Survey admitting that they used banking apps on their phone or tablets in the last month.

“The switch to mobile banking has been a result of rapid technological change, reinforced by high satisfaction levels with this relatively new way of dealing with banks,” said Norman Morris, Roy Morgan’s Industry Communications Director.

“Satisfaction with mobile banking is the highest of all banking channels with 91%, compared to branches with 87.1% and as a result it is likely to be a contributing factor to the increasing preference for mobile banking.”

Online banking using a traditional website still remained the most common way to bank, with 50.8% of respondents revealing that they had used their bank’s website in the previous month, but the survey suggested that mobile banking would likely overtake it in the coming years given the current trend.

The significant uptake in mobile banking also appears to be having an impact on the rate of Aussies using bricks and mortar branches and phone banking to manage their finances, with nearly 60% of respondents reporting that they hadn’t used either in the last four weeks.

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Unsurprisingly, Roy Morgan found that millennials are leading the trend toward mobile banking, with 62.8% indicating that they frequently used mobile banking, while less than a quarter used their local branches on a regular basis.

Baby Boomers on the other hand are still more likely to do their banking at a physical branch (32.2%), but only just, with 22.6% admitting that they had used mobile banking in the past four weeks.  

“The strong preference for mobile banking by millennials is a result of them having grown up with technology and so they have more easily moved to it, compared to the older generations who have been brought up using branches,” said Morris. 

“As millennials get older however, their financial needs are likely to become more complex and so they may also require some type of personal contact, possibly involving a branch.”

The recent increase in availability of online banking appears to be part of a larger upsurge in online financial products, with consumers now able to choose between everything from online home loans and personal loans to savings accounts.

Want to join the growing number of Australians managing their finances online? Check out these five banking apps which were winners in the 2017 Mozo People's Choice Awards, or head on over to the Mozo bank account hub to compare a range of top online bank accounts.