UK Mobile Banking Is Playing Catch-Up

Mobile phone banking in the UK is lagging behind the rest of the world when it comes to services provided and as a result consumers do not value it, a report has indicated.

Market analyst Datamonitor said that while people in countries in Africa and Asia, as well as in India and Russia, could access high-tech, in-depth mobile banking services, us Brits are left with mere text-based functions, such as only being able to check balances.

As a result, it said people in the UK did not see the importance of the technology, with just 16% of people valuing it, compared with 60% in Brazil.

The group said one of the reasons mobile banking was more sophisticated in many developing countries was that they lacked the infrastructure for consumers to be able to access their accounts by the internet, or in some cases, even for them to be able to travel to branches.

Daoud Fakhri, an analyst at Datamonitor, said: "Although UK banks will start to catch up with other markets in the coming years, they will need to ensure that they're able to get the basics right and provide seamless day-to-day services before consumers can be convinced that it is an important feature."