Slightly more than 9 in 10 smartphone and tablet users engage in one or more of a variety of financial activities on their devices, per results [download page] from a Prosper Mobile Insights survey. The most popular of those identified activities is banking (77.1%), followed by shopping (57.9%), paying bills (44.5%), and creating shopping lists (43.3%). Driving this behavior is a general agreement that using a mobile device for financial activities saves time.
Indeed, roughly 3 in 4 respondents somewhat (33.8%) or strongly (42.4%) agreed their mobile devices are a time-saver in this area. They were less convinced that using mobile for financial activities could save them money, though: just 37% agreed on that end, with a plurality (40.2%) neutral on the topic.
Interestingly, the high rate of smartphone and tablet usage for financial activities comes despite concerns about privacy. Almost 6 in 10 respondents said they somewhat (37.8%) or strongly (21.6%) agree that they’re concerned about privacy when using their device for financial activities.
Last year, Millennial Media and comScore teamed up to offer a breakdown of “mobile finance users,” in this case referring to consumers who engage with finance content and ads on their mobile devices. That study found that these users tend to be young, value brands, and have a higher likelihood of earning at least $100,000 per year.
About the Data: The Prosper Mobile Insights results are based on a survey conducted 1/28-1/30/2013 among 328 smartphone and tablet users on their devices.
