35 million US underbanked consumers likely to use m-banking services - report

According to the Reaching the Underbanked and Unbanked Consumers in 2012: Strategies for Connecting with Mobile Financial Services report issued by research firm Javelin Research, some key next steps and recommendations exist regarding the specific types of mobile financial services that banks need to offer to the underbanked population in order to connect with this underserved market segment.

First of all, banks can engage the underbanked population through mobile transfers, as the US underbanked are prime consumers for wire transfers and remittances. Twice as many underbanked consumers send wire transfers as the average consumer, a market that totaled USD 48 billion in outflows from the US. Underbanked consumers make twice as many person-person transfers than the average mobile consumers. Furthermore, one in three underbanked consumers are likely to conduct international mobile money person-to-person (P2P) transfers, reaching USD 501 billion global remittance flow in 2011.

Secondly, prepaid accounts are an important offering, as prepaid cards follow cash in the top choices of the underbanked consumers when referring to their top-of-wallet payment method. Banks can also focus their efforts on leveraging mobile P2P transfers and prepaid accounts to build the foundation of a relationship with the underbanked. By offering simple, easily understood mobile banking services, banks can save the underbanked consumer time and expense at check cashers and develop positive new relationships with these younger customers.

Finally, the report has revealed that the US underbanked consumers are less likely to own computers compared to mobile consumers (60 percent vs. 72 percent). As a result, underbanked consumers use mobile banking at higher rates than other consumers with 32 percent of unbanked consumers using mobile banking in past 30 days compared to 25 percent of mobile consumers.