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Mobile banking in India - Perception and Statistics

Team, Vital Analytics

Over the last few years, the mobile and wireless market has been one of the fastest growing markets in the world and it is still growing at a rapid pace. Mobile phones have become an essential communication tool for almost every individual. Advent of mCommerce has managed to take mobile VAS to next level, adding tremendous value to telecommunication industry. Mobile banking which is an integral part of mCommerce has become very popular among mobile users ever since its existence in 2007. It creates new, convenient communication and fast financial transactional channel for mobile users which is accessible from anywhere, anytime.

Checking account information, balance available, credit/debit card information, cheque status, setting alerts , payment reminders, locating ATMs and bank branches, accessing mini statement, accessing loan and equity statements, insurance policy management, placing orders for cheque books etc via mobile phones are some of the services offered in mobile banking. With multiple access channels such as SMS, downloadable client, mobile Internet (WAP) mobile banking is encouraging mobile users more to explore the service.

Mobile banking services - insights and reports

Based on data gathered in April 2009 for Feb/March mobile banking urban Indian customers checking account balance is the most frequently cited reason for using mobile banking. 40 million Urban Indians used their mobile phones to check their bank account balances followed by viewing last three transactions. ICICI bank continues to maintain its leadership extending in mobile space, 42% of all mobile banking users bank with ICICI, followed by HDFC (25.3%).

Mobile banking report: “Most popular services and income profile” (Two month ended March 2009, Urban Indian Mobile Phone Users).

Figure -1 Statistics on most popular mobile banking services

Filtering the data further to understand which income groups in urban India use mobile banking more. As depicted in the chart below, mobile banking is most used by subscribers falling in Rs. 1 Lakh to Rs. 2.99 Lakhs income bracket followed by less than Rs 1 Lakh income bracket.Therefore it is observed, mobile banking is more popular among low income group of mobile users than higher income group of mobile users.

Figure - 2 Mobile banking users – Income profile

Many believe that mobile users have just started to fully utilize data capabilities in their mobile phones. Service providers are every day coming up with new services, providing methods to make the solution more easy to use, implementing techniques to improve security, launch of 3G is providing higher data transfer rate and invention of new phones more frequently is driving mobile users towards subscribing to mobile banking services. In India, where mobile subscribers far exceed fixed line subscribers because of better mobile infrastructure in comparison to fixed line infrastructure has made mobile banking much more appealing in India today. Various players involved in providing mobile banking services (banks, financial institutions, service providers, operators etc) are therefore expecting a potential growth in mobile banking industry in India.

By Vital Anaytics Team

About Vital Analytics
Vital Analytics a pioneer in measuring mobile space in India and a reliable source of mobile marketing intelligence.

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