Mobile America: Half of US consumers can’t last a day without their mobile (infographic)

by John Kennedy

8 Jul 2015

Half of US consumers say they couldn't last a day without their smartphones and value their phones over coffee and hygiene.

Almost one in two US consumers admit they wouldn’t last a day without their smartphone and consider their devices more important than TV or coffee, a Bank of America study has revealed.

It also revealed that under-24s value mobile connectivity over personal hygiene.

Of those who use their phones for banking, almost one-third (31pc) say they log on at least once a day, and four out of five (82pc) access their accounts at least once a week or more.

The inaugural Bank of America Trends in Consumer Mobility Report revealed that mobile connectivity is so critical, the smartphone falls below only the internet and personal hygiene when ranked by importance to people’s daily lives.

91pc say their mobile phone is very important, just as important as their car (91pc) and deodorant (91pc) and significantly more important than television (76pc) and coffee (60pc).

The report also found that the youngest millennials aged 18-24 are most likely to view their mobile phones as very important (96pc) — more so than deodorant (90pc) and even their toothbrush (93pc).

The report revealed that almost two-thirds (62pc) of consumers have at least tried mobile banking. When accessing a mobile banking app, the most common activities included monitoring account balances and statements, transferring funds and paying bills, as well as depositing checks via mobile check deposit.

But while mobile and online banking services are becoming more widely used, and in many cases are consumers’ primary method of banking, visits to bank branches also remain high: 84pc of respondents have visited a bank branch within the past six months.

This is true among all the age groups polled, with nearly the same percentage of millennials aged 18-34 (83pc) saying they have visited a bank branch in the past six months as those aged 35 and older (85pc).

However, just 23pc of respondents say they complete the majority of their banking transactions at a branch. Nearly half (47pc) turn to mobile or online as their preferred method.

“Mobile phones have changed the way we live our daily lives, and that extends to our finances,” said Marc Warshawsky, senior vice president and mobile solutions executive at Bank of America.

“Bank of America now has more than 15m active mobile banking users who access their accounts on a mobile device over 165 million times per month. We’ve seen this number continue to grow and recently the number of monthly mobile banking logins surpassed online banking logins for the first time.”