Mobile banking is a new and exciting way to bank for the customers in India. It not only has the multiple banking operations but also has quite a few support functions. Yet, it hasnt reached across India, as anticipated -RBI suggested. However, the growth in mobile banking in India is extremely encouraging. Here are few facts that will surprise you.
There is more than 7% month-on-month growth in the number of mobile transactions in India. This is based on the monthly transactions by August 2013.
By September 2013, the users have exchanged around Rs. 1565 Cr though the mobile transactions.
Though, the year-on-year growth is phenomenal, it cannot be considered well received when only a small fraction of the Indian banking customers are using it. When you realize the number of functionalities available, it is surprising that more numbers of people are not using it. The banking and allied functionalists available via mobile banking application are:
Locate the nearest branch of the bank via Google maps
Order a new cheque book
Check the status of new cheque book
Transfer funds
Check the balance available in the account
Take the mini-statement of the account
Pay utilities bills, credit card bills, insurance premiums, etc.
Make donations
Top up mobile recharge
The demat account services such as purchasing mutual funds, cancelling transactions, check NAVs, etc.
Arguably, all these services are not available in all the mobile banking apps released by all the banks. There is no sufficient response to the already-launched apps either. The research indicates that the primary reasons for this low-responsive state are:
Compatibility: The existing apps are not compatible with the various types of smartphones available in the market. Though, the smartphone market in India is expanding at the extraordinary rates, it is challenging to identify and release as many versions of the banking applications in the respective app stores. So, all interested customers dont get the app for mobile banking.
Awareness: All the bank customers are not aware of these apps. In spite of the promotions, this information hasnt penetrated down to all the social strata.
With few changes, the growth of smartphone banking in India can go in the high gear. It will become a routine concept. However, there are considerable infrastructure challenges. We still need to overcome them. With the right marketing and information strategy in place, interest and participation in the phone banking operations will reach sky high.