WASHINGTON—The popularity of mobile banking grew last year, with 43% of adults with mobile phones and bank accounts using their phones for financial activities, according to an annual survey by the Federal Reserve.
The share of adults who reported using mobile-banking features increased by four percentage points from the Fed's 2014 survey, reflecting the increasing popularity of features like mobile payments and the capability to check account balances on a hand-held device.
“The report also shows how mobile banking continues to disrupt more traditional banking channels,” said Bill Hardekopf, CEO at LowCards.com. “While mobile hasn't surpassed online banking or ATMs as the ‘most important way’ consumers interact with their bank, it beat out branch tellers for third place among types of banking interactions ranked by importance.”
In demographic terms, users of mobile-banking services tend to skew young and diverse, the survey found. A higher share of younger adults, Hispanics and African-Americans use these services when compared with the general population.