The use of mobile devices is at an all-time high and it is changing the way we access and manage our money. With our increasingly busy schedules and lives, we interact less with desktop computers and turn to mobile applications that can keep up with us. Mobile banking applications offer unparalleled accessibility, allowing users to manage their savings, credit cards and even mortgage accounts on-the-go.



Mobile Banking is On The Rise

A recent report by the British Bankers Association, “The Way We Bank Now”, highlights just how rapidly mobile banking applications are growing in popularity. According to the report, over the past 5 years customer activity on banking apps increased by an astounding 354%. Apps are becoming an increasingly popular way to access current accounts, rising threefold in five years: from 21% in 2012 to 61% by the start of 2017. Last year, there were 19.6 million mobile app users across the UK with 159 logins occurring every second.

A broad range of services that were previously conducted in branches or through online portals, such as savings, credit cards and mortgage/investments accounts, are increasingly going mobile, with adoption rates rising by 30%, 46% and 86% respectively from 2015 to 2016 alone.

Disrupting Banking

As more and more users turn to mobile banking, alternative ways for customers to communicate with their banks are proliferating as well. Customers now have a greater choice in the way they communicate with their banks including video and web chats, increasingly powered by chatbots and AI.

Other technology innovations are also transforming the way we pay. Nearly two-thirds of cards are now contactless with transaction volumes and spending soaring by 174% and 225% respectively in 2016.

Banking app transactions reached 932 million in 2016, up 57% over previous year as customers are increasingly turning to banking apps for all kinds of transactions, such as moving their own money, paying bills, and setting up standing orders.

Fraud Goes Mobile

Meteoric adoption of mobile banking presents an exciting opportunity for banks and FinTech companies. As users are looking for convenience, accessibility, speed and security, adoption of technologies that transform the way we handle our finances, such as biometric authentication and contactless payments are soaring.

While mobile applications make banking easily accessible and user-friendly for the consumer, the question of security is a pressing issue. With the sharp increase in mobile banking users and apps, online fraud activity is likely to shift to mobile as well. The risks associated with mobile banking are numerous and come in many forms, including fraud, mobile malware, malicious apps, and flawed authentication technologies.

The Future is Biometric

How can we make sure that millions of people on mobile banking applications are secure? Enter behavioral biometrics.

Behavioral biometrics is a cutting edge technology that goes beyond the login by continuously verifying users behind the scenes. Recently, behavioral biometrics was recognized as a robust customer authentication method in the framework of the EU’s PSD2 directive, which will be enforced throughout Europe in January 2018.

Behavioral biometric security is on the rise and there is a huge opportunity here for banks with open banking. Behavioral biometric security makes the authentication process seamless and frictionless - meaning a better user experience and better prevention against fraudsters.

'The Way We Bank' in Numbers