UK resident are embracing the future of banking and have double their usage of such banking applications since last year.
Over 12.4 million mobile banking applications have been downloaded in Britain with the number of bank transactions almost doubling on the past year hitting 18.6 million week in 2013. The Royal Bank of Scotland has racked up over a billion logins to its mobile solution since it launched last year, and Barclays mobile app sees its customers login on an average of 24 a month.
2013 saw customers receive over 450 million text messages from their banks with information such as balance alerts and actions throughout 2013. 66% of texts sent by HSBC were balance warnings set by its account holders.
In-store mobile payments also soared this past year. Over 28.4 million debit and credit cards are linked to mobile devices for tap and pay purchases. RBS Group alone completed over 14 million contactless payments in the last 12 months. That number is expected to hit 44 million this year and reach as high as 250 million by 2023.
“A revolution is underway in how people spend, move and manage their money. This is not just about the phenomenal growth of mobile banking, which has already allowed millions of British customers to make billions of transactions from the palm of their hand. Consumers are also rushing to use contactless cards, text alerts and a range of other easy-to-use technology,” stated Anthony Browne, chief executive for the British Bankers’ Association (BBA).
As a result of the growing acceptance and usage of such mobile services branch visits are dwindling. RBS reported visits being down 30% compared to the amount of visits prior to their mobile solutions in 2010. Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks, after also experiencing a similar drop in account holder branch visits, will be closing 28 branches throughout the country. Barclays confirmed it is planning of terminating over 1700 customer-facing positions due to the mass mobile adoption.
“Many of us love the idea of our local record dealer or bookshop, but we instead opt to buy from a well-known online retailer that delivers goods direct to our door. It would be naïve to think that banks would somehow be unaffected by such change,” adds Browne.
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