Banks urged to invest in mobile banking

Research suggests consumers ready to sign-up on smartphones.

Banks must think about severing the link between online banking and mobile banking if they are to meet the needs of an increasingly dissatisfied micro business market, according to Telstra-commissioned research from Roy Morgan.

The research, conducted as part of a study sponsored by Telstra into how banks can better serve micro-sized businesses, found that 45 percent of micro business people don't see a role for a PC in their workplace, yet 60 percent have access to 3G enabled phones.

Most Australian banks require customers to be a registered user of online banking before they can gain access to mobile banking, but Rocky Scopelliti, general manager of industry development for Telstra Enterprise and Government, said the research should have alarm bells ringing inside banks.

"They have to think about disconnecting the two," he said.

Micro business people are among the most mobile of all workers, reveals the research, with 66 percent operating out of multiple locations and 51 percent spending all of their time on the road.

Those micro-business workers that don't see the need for a PC in their workplace are made up of mobile workers (25 percent), and trade workers and service providers (20 percent).

Mark McCrindle, social researcher and principal at McCrindle Research said whereas technology may have been a barrier to this group taking up online banking in the past, convergence towards the use of smartphones for more and more applications means people are becoming increasingly tech savvy.

"Technology is no longer an obstacle" he said.