Survey: Security concerns limit m-banking takeoff

Eighty-five percent of U.S. consumers acknowledge the importance of mobile banking, but do not want to pay for m-banking services, according to audit, tax and advisory firm KPMG's third annual Global Consumers and Convergence survey, which queried more than 4,000 respondents in 19 countries worldwide. The KPMG study reports that among the 91 percent of U.S. respondents who have never tried banking via mobile devices, 48 percent cited security and privacy concerns as the primary reason. In addition, 68 percent of U.S. consumers said their current bank does not offer mobile services. Even so, 19 percent of U.S. respondents said they are at least "somewhat likely" to sample mobile banking services in the next 12 months, and 7 percent expressed a willingness to pay at least a nominal fee for the privilege.

The KPMG study reveals similar consumer discomfort over mobile commerce services, reporting that 66 percent of U.S. respondents are reluctant to embrace financial transactions over their wireless device. KPMG notes that 95 percent of U.S. respondents have never made a purchase from a vending machine using their mobile device and another 95 percent said they never made a purchase through a retailer's mobile website. "U.S. consumers--as well as worldwide--need to be convinced that new payment methods and banking vehicles are safe and secure for them to succeed," said KPMG's director of payment advisory services Mitch Siegel in a prepared statement. "Once these concerns are addressed, consumer confidence can grow and adoption could potentially increase."

For more on the KPMG study:
- read this release

Related articles:
Forecast: Mobile banking revenues to top $5.5 billion in 2013
Forecast: 37 billion m-banking transactions by 2011