72% of Consumers Trust Syncing their Personal Finances on their Mobile Phones

• Webpals Mobile Survey : Growing Trust in Finance Apps – 72% of Consumers Trust Syncing their Personal Finances on their Mobile Phones

• Mobile Finance Apps Continue to Grow in Strength – Over 70% of Respondents Used One in the Last Week

Webpals Mobile, the mobile division of Webpals Group, a leading performance-driven user acquisition company, revealed that over 72% of respondents trust syncing their personal finances on their mobile phones. This is according to a recent survey conducted with Google Consumer Surveys.

According to Webpals’ findings, over 60% of consumers use financial apps for everyday banking, such as viewing account balances, budgeting and tracking expenses, or paying bills and transferring money. 70% of respondents used a mobile finance app in the last week, indicating just how widespread they have become.

Other key findings include :

  • 26% of respondents are mainly banking digitally with minimal variation by generation (Gen Z – 33.6%, Millennials – 27.7%, Gen X – 23.3%, Baby Boomers – 25.4%)
  • Almost 10% of respondents use personal finance apps to apply for loans or mortgages
  • Males were twice as likely as females to use financial apps for investing
  • Millennials (27%) are almost twice as likely as Baby Boomers to use financial apps for depositing checks (53%)
  • The generational divide over distrust of synchronization of personal finances with mobile phones is apparent: Gen Z 9.7%, Millennials 13.1%, Gen X- 14.8%, Baby Boomers 23.3%.
  • Only 10% of respondents have downloaded a finance app but never used it
  • 33% of respondents reported to having no other personal finance app downloaded on their phone other than their bank’s app

56% of the survey’s respondents reported that they feel the level of customer service on apps is ‘the same’ as in person.  Gen X is most likely to feel customer service is better on a finance app than it is in person, with almost 30% of respondents agreeing apps are superior when it comes to advice and information. At a time when banking is going digital, app developers should remain cognizant of the importance of consumer trust, providing safe and efficient mobile banking services that rival, or even trump, that of traditional banks.

“This survey highlights just how trusting consumers have become with their mobile applications,” said Inbal Lavi, CEO of  Webpals Group. “Today’s banking customers want the ease of financial apps but the same trust and respect they have been accustomed to for years with traditional banking. While potential customers are often familiar with brick and mortar branches, we can expect to see a steady increase in the rise of mobile finance consumers.”

The survey, conducted in September 2018, was carried out using Google Consumer Surveys based on a representative sample of more than 500 respondents from the United States, aged 18-65+.