Appetite for mobile banking growing

Most Canadians prefer online banking, but more are turning to using smartphones to manage their finances.

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In fact, almost half (41%) say they’re open to doing more traditional banking functions, like paying bills, on their mobile devices, finds a survey by ING Direct.

That’s up from 38% in 2012. One in 10 Canadians say they use their mobile device to do banking several times a week, and among 18 to 24 year-olds, that rate is one in five.

Bank customers say they need to visit a branch less often. A third of Canadians who do their banking at a branch say the top reason for their most recent visit was to deposit a cheque. Close to half (46%) of respondents who use mobile banking say they would consider depositing a cheque to their bank account using their mobile device, a number that’s more than doubled since 2012 when only 22% said they would consider depositing a cheque that way.

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More than half (56%) of mobile banking users use their mobile devices to check their bank account balances, while 27% use it to pay bills. And 89% of this crowd agrees that being able to bank on-the-go has made their lives easier. In particular, 72% report they save up to two hours every month by banking from their mobile devices.

The survey also reveals that 44% of clients have used mobile banking to get them out of a bind, such as checking their account balance before making a purchase at the register, emailing money to a friend or making a last-minute bill payment. Customers also admit to banking from their mobile device in some rather unusual places: 25% of respondents say they’ve done it in the bathroom, while other respondents mentioned banking at a nightclub, in class and while hunting.