One in four UK smartphone owners now use mobile banking services, according to a new survey. Young people are driving the adoption with 30 per cent of 18-24 year olds and 33 per cent of 25-34 year olds using mobile internet banking - compared to 13 per cent of over 55s.

Key findings of the research released by mobile web and app specialists Antenna include: Security is the biggest barrier to take-up with 69 per cent citing it as a concern; Consumers prefer mobile web to apps by a ratio of 3:1 when it comes to accessing mobile banking services; Only 1 out of the 14 major UK banks have both a mobile app and website and just four had dedicated iPhone apps

“Mobile banking has now taken hold,” comments Jim Hemmer, CEO at Antenna. “The public clearly want to fit their banking chores around their lives and not their lives around their banking chores, and using their mobiles, they can. Banks need to acknowledge this by implementing holistic mobile banking strategies as soon as possible, and that means providing easy-to-use mobile web and apps across all device platforms.”

“Security remains the big issue for consumers, and that’s probably why they’re mostly using mobile banking services for basic tasks like checking their balances and finding ATMs. Banks need to start offering full mobile banking services which allow their customers to make deposits, balance transfers and the like as soon as possible, because it’s those banks which build up mobile trust in the short-term who are going to gain the most when m-commerce becomes commonplace,” he adds.

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