Mobile Share of Bank of America’s Deposits Climbs 3x

Bank of America Corp. released numbers on its mobile deposits and they are impressive. The key figure: 12% of all deposits at the nation’s second-largest bank are now transacted on mobile devices.

Last quarter, the bank noted 10% of its deposits were mobile, so this number has grown 20% in one quarter and has tripled since the end of 2012. PNC Bank is the only other major bank that reports this figure. An analyst recently estimated PNC’s percentage of deposits that are mobile at about 5%.

The Charlotte, N.C.-based BofA followed a pattern that has become typical toward the end of 2014 — it grew mobile users and shuttered branches. In its 4Q 2014 earnings call this morning, the bank disclosed that its mobile user-base grew to 16.5 million, 2.5% over last quarter and 14.6% more than last year.

This impressive figure slightly lags rivals JPMorgan Chase Co. and Wells Fargo & Co., however, whose numbers are given below.

Bank of America is outpacing Chase and Wells in what is arguably another innovation area — closing branches. The bank reported 4,855 banking centers, a reduction of 1.9% QOQ and 3.3% YOY. Both Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase were relatively flat on branch growth, with JPM down 0.5% YOY and Wells reporting no change.