Consumers Want to Bank by Tablet: Survey

Consumer demand for tablets, tablet apps and banking via a tablet computer such as an iPad is high, according to a survey of 3,000 mobile phone users around the world that Oracle released this week. Smart phones are the reigning mobile device — nearly 70% of mobile users have them. But 16% of mobile customers around the world have bought a tablet computer and another 41% plan to purchase one in the next 12 months.

Mobile users have gotten more comfortable with downloading applications to their devices, the survey found. Fifty-five percent have downloaded a free app for their mobile phone in the past year; this is up from 42% a year ago. In the last three years, mobile device-toting consumers downloaded more than 300,000 mobile applications 10.9 billion times (these numbers the Oracle report picked up from an IDC study).

Asked specifically on which type of device they would like to use banking and finance apps, 34% said a tablet computer and 11% said a mobile phone; 55% said both. The tablet preference is extraordinary given the relatively low rate of tablet ownership.

Among North American consumers, 56% use a smart phone, 10% have a tablet, and 26% plan to purchase a tablet in the next 12 months. Almost half of U.S. consumers (43%) have downloaded a free mobile app.

In spite of dramatic increases in mobile device usage, however, the survey results showed feeble interest in mobile payments. Only 6% of respondents have made a purchase while in a store using their mobile phone instead of cash or a credit card this year, and a low 21% say they would be very comfortable making a purchase with their mobile phone. The barrier is security issues: 68% of surveyed consumers think the information stored or transmitted by their phone isn't or may not be secure.

But in a piece of good news for any financial institution planning a location-based app, 45% of mobile-savvy consumers say they have already elected to share their location with a mobile app; that's up from the 33% last year who were interested in receiving relevant content based on their location.

The survey also found consumers have begun to embrace several other mobile commerce activities that banks could get involved in. Thirty percent have comparison shopped using their mobile phone, 24% have read customer reviews on their mobile device and 14% have scanned a quick response code (a two-dimensional barcode that in an ad or article.