Most consumers can’t live without their mobile banking app, study shows

The rise in mobile banking app adoption has been undeniable – but to maintain this trend, digital banking apps have had to cater to a slew of consumer demands that range from unified banking experiences to BNPL. 

To their credit, banks had a lot of ground to cover when the world went exclusively online in 2020. This meant banks had to do a little bit of everything, like reworking internal operations with process automation, as well as flesh out front-facing services like chatbots and unified digital banking experiences.

New data from Chase suggests that even though the world is no longer stuck at home, consumers have developed a taste for digital banking, and adoption continues to rise.

In fact, two out of three respondents reported that they "can’t live without their banking app." Consumers are now monitoring their credit and taking advantage of discount offers and rewards as well as checking their accounts, paying bills and depositing checks.

1. Unified banking app experiences

About 87% of consumers are using their digital banking app at least once a month, which is 2% more than last year. Demand for a single bank app that helps consumers handle all their banking needs isn’t going anywhere – unified banking experiences are here to stay. 

According to Chase, personalization is key to unified banking experiences. "Beyond just saying, 'happy birthday,' greeting consumers by name. We have an immense amount of data about what opportunities there might be for consumers to save money. We’ve achieved great results when we use that data to surface personalized, relevant value to consumers and help them find what they’re looking for," said Sonali Divilek, Head of Digital Products and Channels at Chase.

2) Consumer spend is going up

People can travel again freely and are more willing to spend on entertainment in 2023 – the data is already showing that consumer spend has increased since 2021. In 2022, consumers spent an average of $1,548 annually on travel and an average of $209 on entertainment.

Among all age cohorts, Gen Z and Millennials were the most likely to spend on travel and entertainment. But this doesn’t mean that consumers aren't being cautious about how they spend. Two out of three consumers are researching deals and discounts, and over half of all consumers are using features like reward points to fund such expenses. 

The good news for banks is that 15% of consumers booked their travel plans through their bank, and 64% are likely to stick with their bank next time as well. (For more information about how Gen Z likes to bank, take a look at Steez – where we break down everything Gen Z.) 

3) On going digital

Conversion is a hard nut to crack, but the good news is that the convenience of paying digitally is turning doubters into believers. 82% of all consumers pay digitally once a month or more, and 47% are doing so at least once a week – representing a 5% YoY growth from 2021.

When paying digitally, P2P payments have been running the gamut with consumers, wherein every four in five consumers are using the service to send or receive money from their family and friends. More traditional payment methods like cash and checks are at 16% and 3%, respectively.

Moreover, as the chart above shows, digital payments have increased across a range of payment methods, showing how popular digital mechanisms are across consumer segments. 

4) Understanding credit is important to Millennials

While credit monitoring has proven to be important across all consumer segments, Millennials have taken the lead here, with 75% reporting the use of such services to check their score at least once a month. 

Moreover, the majority of consumers (56%) report paying regular attention to their credit, as well as undertaking efforts to maintain a good score. But while customers are cognizant of their credit score, they are also exploring other options, with 40% reporting the use of alternate services like BNPL.