"The era when a significant volume of banking transactions will be carried out from everywhere, except the bank branch, has begun. It has been heard many times in the past as a prospect that it will happen, but this time it is not wishful thinking, it is reality," a manager of a systemic bank points out to "K".
The data on the evolution of the use of mobile and internet banking confirms this and shows the trends not for the coming years, but for the immediate months, which are expected to gradually change the way we have been accustomed to transactions until today.
In the first quarter of 2012, there were 1,597,000 registered mobile banking users, that is, bank customers who could, if they wished, make transactions via a mobile banking application as defined by each bank. Of these, only about 98,000 were activated customers, meaning they actually used mobile banking once a year. The number of active customers, who used it at least once a month for a year, fell to 52,000. The value of financial transactions (transfers between accounts, various payments, etc.) via mobile phone was close to 80 million euros.
In less than 1.5 years, the picture has changed radically. In particular, in the third quarter of 2013, which is the latest available data, registered mobile banking customers increased by approximately one million and reached 2,580,534, activated customers 208,000 and active banking customers exceeded 144,000, with continuously increasing trends. It is characteristic that between the second and third quarters of 2013, active customers increased by 30%, with the value of monetary transactions approaching 130 million euros, without counting the value of stock market transactions.
The figures in internet banking are similar, with the number of active customers remaining stable at approximately 800,000 between the first quarter of 2012 and the third quarter of 2013. However, the value of monetary transactions increased to approximately 30 billion from approximately 22 billion euros in the same period.
As banking executives point out, a decisive role in the further great impetus to the development of mobile banking in our country is played by the fact of the particularly high penetration of smart phones that support banking transactions, which now approaches 40% of mobile phone users, one of the highest percentages at a European level.
It is worth noting that the now classic alternative networks, and in particular ATMs and APS, continue to experience great growth. More specifically, annual cash withdrawals from ATMs during 2013 reached approximately 35 billion euros, constituting approximately 75% of the total volume of withdrawals made at banks (Bank Cash Offices and ATMs) and 20% of their value. There are also approximately three billion euros in cash deposits at ATMs and two billion euros in deposits at automated payment machines. In addition, annual bill payments at APS reach approximately 700 million euros.
A multitude of transactions can be carried out via mobile. Examples include: money transfers between the customer's accounts, to third-party accounts in the same and in another bank, credit card repayments, loan installments, bills (PPC, EYDAP, VAT, OAEE, IKA, e-Paravolo, OTE, mobile telephony, Internet subscriptions, etc.). Also, the ability to load a prepaid card and withdraw from a credit/prepaid card, etc.
Source: kathimerini.gr
