Britons among the most keen in Europe on mobile banking, report says

The appetite for mobile banking in the UK is among the strongest in Europe, a report has found.

Across Europe, the proportion of mobile users who use their device for banking has swelled to 47%, up from 41% in 2015, according to an annual survey from ING.

Some 63% of people surveyed across Europe expect to be using mobile banking in the next 12 months.

In the UK, mobile banking take-up is particularly high, with 55% of people surveyed now using mobile banking and more than two-thirds (67%) expecting to do so in the next 12 months.

The research surveyed nearly 15,000 people across 15 countries, including the United States and Australia, as well as those in Europe.

The Netherlands was the only country surveyed with higher current mobile banking take-up levels than the UK. Some 63% of people in the Netherlands already use mobile banking and 72% expect to do so in the next 12 months.

The surge in mobile banking appears to be having a positive impact on money management, with 71% of mobile banking users across Europe saying they managed their finances better as a result.

Two-thirds (66%) of people in the UK who use mobile banking said this helps them manage their money better - slightly below the European average.

In the US, 53% currently use mobile banking and 63% expect to do so in the next 12 months, while in Australia 49% already do so and 59% expect to have taken up mobile banking in the next 12 months.

Shopping by mobile device has also made strong gains in 2016, the report found. Two-thirds (66%) of people across Europe shop on their smartphone or tablet, up from 58% in 2015.

The report also found strong variations when it comes to consumers' appetites for using cash. While around two-thirds of people in Turkey and Italy agreed they used physical cash much less now than 12 months ago, at 67% and 66% respectively, only 28% of people in Austria and 31% in Germany were willing to use notes and coins less often.

Consumers in the UK and France were nearer the European average, with 52% and 53% of people in these countries using cash less often.

Ian Bright, a senior economist at ING, said: "The mobile revolution is not a fad. People not only want to use their mobile phone in their everyday life to manage their money but many also reckon it helps them manage their money better."

The ING International Survey - Mobile Banking 2016 surveyed people across Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the US and Australia.

Here are the percentages of mobile device users who currently use mobile banking, according to the report:

:: Austria, 50%

:: Belgium, 42%

:: Czech Republic, 39%

:: France, 45%

:: Germany, 46%

:: Italy, 39%

:: Luxembourg, 52%

:: Netherlands, 63%

:: Poland, 43%

:: Romania, 22%

:: Spain, 51%

:: Turkey, 44%

:: UK, 55%

:: US, 53%

:: Australia, 49%