Mobile outdoes branches

Weekly mobile banking users exceeded that of weekly branch banking users for the first time ever last year, according to Javelin research.

This crossover illustrates the broader trend of digital channel engagement growing while physical channel usage is shrinking. Mobile banking has experienced significant growth with smartphone and tablet adoption. In 2015, one in ten U.S. adults began using mobile banking for the very first time—amounting to 25 million new mobile bankers.

"Mobile is on a growth path to unseat PCs to become the first screen through which bank customers interact with and judge their primary financial institution,” says Daniel Van Dyke, mobile analyst at Javelin. “Financial institutions will need to continue to innovate to outpace this increasing mobile banking adoption. With fintech start-ups and other vendors entering the space, consumers have more options than ever when it comes to mobile.”

Mobile banking, smartphone, and tablet user bases are all growing rapidly. With each new tablet and smartphone purchased, Javelin sees a precipitous rise in the number of mobile bankers. In the past five years, adoption of mobile banking and smartphones has more than doubled while that of tablets has increased roughly 8.5 times. Mobile banking is the clear winner in the digital battle between mobile and branch.

These findings are based primarily on information gathered from Javelin’s longitudinal mobile banking survey of over 3,100 U.S. consumers over the past five years.

Click to Enlarge