More than 20 million Europeans are now using their handsets to access their bank accounts, according to a new study from comScore. The research firm states that 8.5 per cent of mobile subscribers in the five leading markets--UK, France, Spain, Germany and Italy--are now actively engaged with m-banking, up 15.4 per cent from August 2010.
The report found that smartphone users account for 70 per cent of all m-bankers and that usage among smartphone owners has grown 40 per cent since August 2010.
French subscribers have lead the way with just over 10 per cent now using m-banking services, with Spanish consumers being a close second. However, Germany, which has the highest ownership of smartphones in Europe, had the lowest penetration of m-banking users, with only 6.8 per cent accessing their bank accounts.
Of note, comScore reported that men where were twice as likely to use m-banking services than women, with 25-34 year old males representing the highest percentage of mobile banking users. Mobile subscribers aged over 55 registered the least inclination to use m-banking.
Commenting on the findings, Jeremy Copp, vice president of mobile for comScore Europe, said that, as m-banking became more user-friendly through apps and mobile optimised pages, people were gradually becoming accustomed to it.
"It will be important for service providers, such as banks and credit card providers, to watch this development as it can certainly be seen as an indicator of increased trust in mobile services," Copp said in a statement
The comScore study also found that iPhone users accessed m-banking twice as much as owners of smartphones running Google's Android platform.
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