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iPhone to Revolutionize Mobile Banking, Analysts Say

The USAA banking app, which also allows users to scan and deposit checks.

The USAA app, which also allows users to deposit checks.

When it comes to mobile banking, iPhone users are way ahead of the curve.

While half of iPhone users already check in with their bank from their smart phone, it’ll take another five years until other kinds of cell phone owners do the same, a study said.

The 2009 Mobile-Banking and Smartphone Forecast by San Francisco-based Javelin Strategy & Research found that although half of all current cell phone owners have access to some form of mobile banking, it’s only caught on with iPhone owners. (No doubt the app plays a big part in the revolution — one US bank recently developed one to allow customers to photograph their checks and deposit them via iPhone.)

The firm expects it’ll take until 2014 for 45% of non-iPhone owners to connect with the bank via phone.

iPhones gave AT&T the highest number of mobile bankers, while Verizon Wireless has the lowest penetration for banking on-the-go among major U.S. carriers.

“Just as the iPod changed the music industry and their business models, our data shows that iPhone users are changing the banking industry by leading the way in monitoring and managing finances through mobile devices,” said Mark Schwanhausser,  a Javelin analyst.

About the author

nicole_martinelli

Nicole Martinelli was born in San Francisco and has lived in Milan and Florence, Italy. Cultish tendencies and love for DIY increased while living on the Old Continent, where tech came late and cost more in Big Mac index terms. She's written for Wired.com, The New York Times and Newsweek, and since 1999 on her site, Zoomata. If you're so inclined, friend her on Facebook or connect on Linked in.

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2 comments

    How is this different than signing in to my bank account with my Blackberry via the internet??

    It’s not — just iPhone users are doing more of it…

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