Mobile banking increases but many feel apathy towards adoption

Indifference, more than anxiety, is now the bigger threat to growth

KUALA LUMPUR, 23 April 2014 – BuzzCity the leading global mobile advertising network today releases its latest quarterly report on the mobile internet. The report includes a spotlight on mobile banking adoption and reveals mobile users’ attitudes towards mobile banking.

In the first quarter of 2014, mobile advertising in Malaysia grew by 8% as value added services began the year aggressively promoting premium mobile content across various operator networks.

Spotlight on Mobile Banking

Not surprisingly, the adoption of mobile banking has increased; 27% of adults who use the mobile internet now find mobile banking “easy and useful” compared to 21% last year.  There is, however, apathy amongst potential users, with almost a third of those surveyed (32%) simply not feeling that they “need” mobile banking.

Results suggest that security fears seem to be reduced; 24% of those surveyed this quarter won’t mobile bank because of security fears -  a significant improvement from 2013 when 29% felt concerned about security issues.

“Anxieties will persist, but this apparent indifference among users may yet be the biggest hurdle to overcome”, said Dr KF Lai, BuzzCity founder and CEO. “These consumer perceptions will play a key role when advertisers plan their campaigns across digital channels”.

According to BuzzCity, financial services will need to think about other factors that affect responses to their campaigns as 14% feel that they need to “be offered” from their banks. Parallel with this is consumers confusion; 11% feel mobile banking is too complicated or unreliable (10%) and many aren’t aware if their devices can even be used to activate the service.

Mobile Based Banks

The report also looks at the most popular banks among mobile users. In Malaysia, Maybank is the most popular bank, followed by CIMB Bank, Public Bank and AM Bank in 4th place. Notable in the report is the emergence and rising popularity of ‘mobile-based’ banks (where accounts are linked to SIM cards) in developing markets. These new mobile banks, catering specifically to the mobile- only consumers have gained widespread adoption and a rapid market share in a relatively short time.

The BuzzCity mobile banking research was conducted in March 2014 amongst 6000 adults in 20 benchmark countries.