Zenith, UBA, Other Mobile Banking Apps Gain Momentum- Study

A new study has revealed that at last the mobile banking sector appears to be gaining momentum, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek can report. United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Guarantee Trust Bank Plc, among others in Nigeria will gain from the market, as almost 68% respondents to MEF‘s study of the behaviours and attitudes of 1,000 Nigerian smartphone users, hold bank accounts or own credit cards, are participating in some form of mobile banking.

According to the document obtained by Nigeria CommunicationsWeek, nearly half (45%) reported using a banking app and 27% do their banking via USSD indicating that the banks’ intensive marketing campaigns are starting to pay off.

Other Findings By Mobile Ecosystem Forum
The MEF‘s study of the behaviours and attitudes of 1,000 Nigerian smartphone users showed that 45% of respondents already buy more than 2GB of Data per month.

When consumers pay to increase their data bundle, it is mainly to consume more mobile apps (64%) and content such as video (52%) and music (31%).

While there is clear appetite for extra data, nearly half of respondents surveyed (48%) still expect mobile content to be free.

Cost is also a major factor in messaging, with73% turning to messaging apps over SMS because they are perceived to be free or cheaper. At the same time, a significant percentage (29%) value the extra functionality provided by these services, with WhatsApp (73%) dominating chat apps in Nigeria.

The research also reveals future opportunities outside of apps and entertainment. mLearning (48%) and reading apps (34%) both perform well in Nigeria.

About 45% of respondents said they have used banking apps demonstrating growing trust in this sector.

Healthcare is found to have the highest future potential according to the mobile media users studied (34%) alongside localised services such as taxi apps (33%) and food delivery (32%).

“The growth of the mobile ecosystem from more established areas like entertainment and messaging to the uptake of health, reading, transport and foods apps, along with the uptake of mCommerce and banking is encouraging and demonstrates the continued rise of the mobile economy in Nigeria”, said Rimma Perelmuter, MEF’s CEO.

“While the report shows strong growth in data consumption with 34% purchasing additional data, it also highlights that nearly three quarters of respondents (73%) are still held back from downloading popular services such as video & using more apps due to a lack of trust.

“In order for the mobile opportunity to truly take off, not only do the networks need to continue to improve their service, but data and pricing models need to be more affordable, transparent and better understood.  This study shows that where this is the case, consumers are more willing to pay for content and services as long as the value is clear.”

“The diversity in consumers’ usage is encouraging but a key enabler that drives usage is the use case”, said Adia Sowho, Director, Digital Business at Etisalat.

“What localized use cases should emerge next as the existing content and financial services mature? The MEF study tells us where opportunity has been captured, can be deepened and in some cases, is untouched”.

The report also highlights some challenges facing the Nigerian market. Trust is still perceived as an issue with 44% seeing it as preventing them from doing more with their phone and bandwidth issues or costs (47%) also seem to be holding the market back.