A new report from marketing analysis firm Javelin Strategy & Research, based on surveys with over 13,000 consumers, finds that adoption of mobile banking technologies saw almost no growth between 2010 and 2011, at the same time consumers are increasingly embracing smartphones and other mobile technology that’s finally capable of delivering a decent mobile banking experience.
The primary reason is that consumers don’t feel mobile banking is secure: between 2009 and 2010, more than half (54 percent) of consumers surveyed rated mobile banking as “unsafe” or “very unsafe.”
“This study is a wake-up call to financial institutions to look into what consumers really want,” said Javelin’s managing director for security, risk, and fraud Philip Blank, in a statement. “First and foremost, financial institutions need to address consumers’ needs around security and communicate to consumers their commitment to creating a safe and trusted channel for mobile banking.”
Overall, Javelin found that consumers rate of adoption of mobile banking technology is essentially unchanged between 2010 and 2011, and the same goes for consumers embracing mobile payment solutions, or doing simple things like checking balances or transferring money.
It’s worth noting that the survey data reflects consumers’ opinions before large data breaches—like Epsilon, JPMorgan Chase, and Sony—that have made headlines in 2011, and before trojans took root in Android Market in March.
[Image via Jacob Fenston]