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92pc of millennials use mobile banking more than anything else but with reservations: report

While more than 90 percent of millennials use mobile banking more than any other mobile service, including shopping, three quarters are not satisfied with their overall experience, according to a new a report.

The survey was conducted by Jumio and reached out to 700 million millennials to ascertain their opinions on the mobile banking experience. They found that engagement was high but overall satisfaction was still quite low.

“The digital transformation of banking and financial services creates enormous opportunity for both customers and businesses, but the insights from our research confirm a critical need to improve customer experience to meet the requirements of millennials,” said Jumio CEO Stephen Stuut. “The security and frictionless customer experience offered by digital ID verification make it an ideal tool to fill the existing gaps in the mobile banking experience.”

Millennial banking
Jumio conducted the survey in light of the fact that millennial spending power is expected to reach $1.4 trillion by 2020. With that kind of money behind it, the banking industry needs to target the younger demographic in the place where they are most at home – mobile.

To divine exactly what that growing audience feels about and wants out of the mobile banking experience, Jumio surveyed 700 million millennials and asked them a series of questions about their mobile banking habits and overall opinion of mobile banking in general.

They found that mobile banking is incredibly popular among millennials. 92 percent of millennials report using mobile banking and doing so more than any other mobile service, including shopping.

That kind of penetration is huge when it comes to making mobile banking an integral part of millennial lives.

However, the survey also found noticeable gaps in the realities of mobile banking and what millennials desired out of it. Despite the overwhelming amount of millennials who use mobile banking, 75 percent still report being dissatisfied with the overall experience.

For example, Jumio found that 93 percent of millennials who use mobile banking had abandoned a transaction because of a forgotten password. To get around this, banks need to look beyond the standard and possibly soon-to-be outdated authentication methods such as passwords and to more forward-thinking security measures such as fingerprint scanning and “selfie” authentication.

Security first
Security in general is another area where millennials report dissatisfaction. The chief concern among millennials who engage in mobile banking, beyond factors of convenience or speed, is security.

Many millennials fear having their personal and financial information hacked as a consequence of using mobile banking. Banks need to strengthen their internal security measures and find a way to reassure millennials that mobile banking is safe if they want to retain the huge audience they currently have.

One of the biggest features that millennials desire out of mobile banking is the improved ability to scan documents, such as scanning a driver’s license or passport to authenticate their identities, in addition to the standard mobile check deposit scanning that some banks already employ.

Banks have their work cut out for them if they want to keep the sizable millennial mobile banking audience. These financial institutions need to be thinking about security first and foremost while still keeping in mind the convenience and quality-of-life factors that have made mobile banking as popular as it is.

“As concerns around data security reach new heights, the call to action for businesses is clear – protect customers from fraudulent account access by creating new ways to validate identity that make the customer experience more seamless, not more complex,” Mr. Stuut.