More people are banking through their mobile phones, with Australians doubling their use of finance apps in just two years, according to a new report on the transformation of financial services in the region.
Finance apps are being downloaded more than all other apps combined in the Asia-Pacific - excluding games - according to App Annie's Asia-Pacific Retail Banking report, which looks at how mobile is disrupting traditional banking and financial services.
In Australia, the instances in which people used banking apps for personal finance more than doubled in 2016, compared to 2014, with Commonwealth and ANZ banks' money apps topping the report's list of leading local banking apps.
According to the report, Australian banks have tended to consolidate core and value-added banking services within a single app, whereas across the Asia-Pacific region finance apps have often evolved for a specific banking task.
As an early adopter of digital technologies, the report said Australia's banking industry has managed to ensure customer behaviour in the digital banking space is "very well established".
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"Australia's approach of bundling all financial services within the same app may have contributed to the higher engagement per user," the report said.
The total worldwide downloads for finance apps have increased by 100 per cent over the past two years, while in China - Australia's largest source of trade, tourism and overseas students - finance app downloads spiked by 230 per cent, the report noted.
App Annie senior vice-president of research Danielle Levitas said mobile banking applications provide a secure and convenient way for consumers to bank.
"They provide banks and other financial institutions with a unique opportunity to enrich relationships with customers, reduce costs associated with in-branch transactions, and create new growth opportunities," Ms Levitas said.
App Annie is a San Francisco-based data analytics firm covering the global app economy.
The report examines retail banking and fintech apps with a focus on the Asia-Pacific countries most impacted - Australia, China, Japan and South Korea.
