M-banking adoption is correlated with the types of handsets used for m-banking and not with the age of consumers, concluded a new US study cited by the Digital Transactions publication.

The study shows that mobile users with iPhones or similar devices are more likely to use the devices for m-banking than are users with ordinary mobile phones or even devices with full keyboards, irrespective of their age. In the survey, a group of 279 consumers were split into four age groups, mature (born from 1930 to 1945), Baby Boomers, Gen X, and Gen Y. The groups were shown photos of four types of handsets and were also provided with definitions of these types of devices. They were also asked about the type of phone they own and whether they would use it for m-banking or not.

To the surprise of researchers, the m-banking usage results were not correlated to the age of respondents, but to the mobile devices they own. Data showed that mobile-banking adoption is far more likely to be driven by the availability of sophisticated handsets with touchscreens. Of all the respondents from all categories having touchscreen smart phones, 41 percent said they had used their device for mobile banking in the past 30 days, with 21 percent carrying out mobile bill payments. For the entire group, only 14 percent said they had used their phone for mobile banking in the past 30 days, with 7 percent carrying out mobile bill payments.

The study was conducted by US payments consultancy firm eCom Advisors.