With mobile banking expected to become a bigger trend in the next few years, a new survey from ING DIRECT finds that nearly half of Canadian smartphone users (49%) expect to do banking from their mobile device in the next 12 – 24 months. This number grows to 64% when looking at those aged 18 – 34.

“We know that as the mobile marketplace continues to expand, mobile banking is set to become a more popular option for Canadians. While online banking has and continues to be a convenient option, Canadians want easy access to their money at any time, wherever they are,” aysd Peter Aceto, President and CEO at ING DIRECT Canada.

According to the ING survey, 35% of Canadian smartphone users have done banking on their mobile devices in the last 12 months.

Sixty-six % of those who’ve done mobile banking in the last 12 months have used their bank’s mobile application vs. 34% who simply use their smartphone browser to access the bank’s website, while 2% of Canadian smartphone users indicated they primarily conduct their banking transactions using their mobile devices.

Despite the promising uptake of mobile banking in the last 12 months, 65% of Canadian smartphone users still aren’t on board. When asked why they haven’t used mobile banking, a 56% said online banking suited them just fine while 21% said they prefer other methods of banking (in person, ABM, telephone, etc.) A large number of respondents, 40%, said they had security concerns about using their mobile phones to do banking. Of all respondents, 64% said security is their biggest concern about mobile banking.

“It’s not surprising that security is one of the biggest concerns given that the popularity of mobile banking has only recently started to pick up,” said Charaka Kithulegoda, chief information officer at ING DIRECT Canada. “The fact is mobile banking applies the same stringent security measures as traditional online banking websites.”

For smartphone users who have used mobile banking in the last 12 months, the most common mobile banking functionalities used include: checking account balances (63%), paying a bill (19%), transferring funds (15%), emailing money (2%) and buying and selling mutual funds (1%).

Despite the ease and convenience of mobile banking, Canadians who are already using mobile banking apps still have a wish list of functionalities they’d like to have. Topping the list is the ability to make mobile payments using their smartphones (31%), the ability to add a payee (27%), personal finance management/budgeting tools (19%) and the ability to live chat with a bank associate (17%).

The online survey was conducted from October 21 to 25 among 700 randomly selected Canadian adult smartphone users who are Angus Reid Forum panelists.