A survey by KPMG has revealed that most people in the US are uncomfortable with mobile banking, mostly citing concerns about security as a main reason. Most US respondents (91 percent) said they had never tried banking through a mobile device, and similar levels were reported for mobile payments: 95 percent of U.S. respondents said they never made a purchase from a vending machine using their mobile device and 95 percent said they never made a purchase using a mobile device through a retailer’s mobile website.

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Two thirds of respondents said they weren’t comfortable using their mobile device for financial transactions, and of those respondents who had not done any mobile banking 48 percent cited security and privacy as the primary reason. There’s not much flip side—only 19 percent of respondents said they are at least “somewhat likely” to use their mobile device for online banking in the next 12 months, with 7 percent saying they were willing to pay a nominal fee to do so.

More people may be interested if they can be convinced that mobile banking is secure, and if they become aware of the services that are offered. About 68 percent of respondents said that their current bank does not offer mobile banking. “The fact that the majority of U.S. consumers are not aware that their current banks offer mobile banking is clearly more perception than reality,” said Carl Carande, a principal in KPMG LLP’s Advisory and Banking and Finance practices, adding that banks would have to work on increasing awareness of the service. (release)