Banks delivering mobile financial services can boost customer acquisition by more than sixty percent, according to a recent survey by Mercatus LLC, a financial services strategy consulting and investment firm. 

The six-month-long consumer research study survey, promoted by Visa, studied the effect of mobile financial services, like mobile banking and payments, on consumer thinking, especially when it came to selecting retail banking services.

As seen with past new introductions in financial services sector, like online banking and ATMs, mobile financial services are reportedly reaching a tipping point. Mercatus' analysis studied consumer behaviour across three decades of delivery channel improvements. It illustrated how the present levels of mobile adoption is above that experienced with past innovations like ATMs, debit cards and online banking.
 

The survey revealed that almost a third of customers are utilizing, or considering utilizing mobile financial services by the next year. It also found that consumer mobile financial service adoption will increase significantly during the next five years, greater than the use of online banking by 2015.

“Owing to its rapid pace of adoption, mobile is a market that offers a clear first-mover advantage,” Bob Hedges, Mercatus managing partner said. “Banks that act soon, and aggressively deploy mobile financial services, will capture a clear market opportunity to aggressively deploy mobile financial services. Banks that delay will risk losing their best customers to the competition."

Mobile financial service features were more important in a consumer's decision to choose a bank than accessibility of online banking, availability of ATMs, or branches close by. Customer acquisition promotional schemes which included mobile financial services fared better than those that did not include mobile financial services by thirty percent. A reduction in acquisition cost for a new customer was 20 percent based on the improved efficiency of mobile-inclusive customer acquisition marketing. 

Survey results also illustrate that mobile financial services comprise a viable customer segment for banks to acquire and retain. Patrons of mobile financial services are typically between the age 18 and 39 and have larger incomes. They also retain higher balances at their primary bank, use more banking and card products, and have lower rates of attrition as compared to traditional customers. This segment can be managed at a 20 percent lower cost than conventional bank customers. More than 1,400 U.S. consumers above the age of 18 with mobile devices and bank accounts were part of the study conducted in June.