Methodology of Report on Trust of Mobile Banking Questioned

More customers trust banking at the branch over mobile devices, a recent study finds — but we’re adding an asterisk to that conclusion.

According to BT Global Research, its latest survey indicates that US banks must work harder to increase consumer confidence in mobile banking if they want to discourage costly trips to the branch.

But wait, does it?

In the study, 1,000 adults in the US were asked which three banking technologies they trusted most. According to the results, fusty old ATM came out on top with 58% of respondents calling it trustworthy. Self-service branch banking followed at 52%. Online banking came in at 51%, while call center banking rated only 24%.

Mobile banking was considered trustworthy by only 13% of respondents. In-branch wifi did worst of all, with garnering only 5% trust.

“This finding validates our intuition,” said Mark Akass, CTO of BT Global banking and financial markets. “Trust in mobile for younger customers is likely a result of increased comfort with the technology.”

But the study neglected to ask a simple question: “Do you use mobile banking?” By not asking this question, it impossible to know how many of those 1,000 respondents are actually users of mobile banking, or any of the technologies in question.

Bank Innovation asked for clarification on this point. BT’s spokeswoman wrote us, “To this question, you’re right – it’s 1,000 overall and not all of them necessarily use [mobile] banking. So, the 13% is most likely influenced by those who have tried it.”

Nevertheless, BT is sticking to its published conclusions, which were referenced by Bank Systems & Technology and other banking industry media outlets.

“The branch is still a popular asset; people still want 24/7 access,” Akass said.

We suppose that is true. Although we aren’t certain.