AUSTIN, Texas–Mobile deposit growth at credit unions and banks grew by more than a third during 2017, according to new data. But the “big news” is in P2P, the same data show.
Malauzai Software’s monthly Monkey Insights “little-data” report, which highlights key trends in Internet and mobile banking usage based on December 2017 data for 400+ banks and credit unions, covering 17.0 million logins from 885,000 active Internet and Mobile Banking users, found that for all of 2017 mobile deposits were up by more than 35%.
In other findings:
- Growth in Users. Key metrics such as average value ($525) and number of deposits per month (2.6) stayed constant so the growth was in number of users. “More people are using mobile banking to deposit checks. And where the financial institution offers desktop (Internet Banking) deposit, they increase engagement as 2.5% of the deposits come in via the desktop,” Malauzai Software reported. “This makes check deposit the killer app in mobile banking once again. Yes, it appears checks are not going away.”
- Account-To-Account Grows 60%. Who would have known, moving money to yourself is hot? A2A transfers, where you move money to yourself or between two financial institutions, grew by 60% in 2017 with an average value of $1150 per transfer. 80% of the transfers are outbound from the deposit bank, meaning people are transferring money out of their primary financial institution, a potential indication of a pattern of savings,
- iPhone Growth Outpaces Android. The number of active iPhone users increased by 35% in 2017 vs a 25% increase on the Android platform, Malauzai reported. “This means the balance continues to favor iPhone where 65% of the total active digital banking base uses iPhones. Android slipped in 2017 going from 40% of active digital users in 2016 to 35% in 2017. Even with the lack of innovation on the iOS platform, iPhone is gaining market share when it comes to mobile banking.”
- 63% Of Active Digital Users Check Balances & Transactions. 63% of digital activity is checking balances and transaction history. 37% of the time, active users go on to do other tasks in this order: transfer money, see check and deposit images, and make a deposit. “Balances are the main reason people access digital banking and this has not changed in years. But the percentage is shifting so we see a greater number of end-users accessing more features in digital banking. This can be expected as the pace of innovation continues and new features become available.”
- Person-To-Person Payments Increase by 30%. The big news around P2P is growth continues, but not as robust as last year. “When measuring total active users of the feature, we see an average growth of 30%. However, many more financial institutions have launched P2P, now more than 11% of banks and credit unions have P2P available. That is an 80% increase in 2017 in terms of the total number of financial institutions offering P2P.”