Turkey shows highest demand to mobile banking in Europe: ING

Turkish consumers have shown the highest demand for mobile banking across Europe, with Turkey the only country where more than half the population uses mobile banking services, a survey by ING Group showed April 9. 

"Turkey has the highest share of Internet users who use mobile banking, suggesting that the usage in Turkey has potential to rapidly grow. It is for this reason that Turkey is identified as a future 'hotspot' for mobile banking," said the survey, in which more than 14,000 consumers participated. 

Turkey's potential is further demonstrated by the comparison to the Internet-adjusted measure, where Turkey has the joint 12th highest share using mobile banking, the report said, but added that Turkey was top when Internet users are also considered. The question was only asked to people in the survey who had indicated they own a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet.

While 33 percent of Europeans have already used a mobile payment app, which allows the user to make payments via mobile or tablet, this is expected to increase to 51 percent over the next 12 months. The Survey on Mobile Banking revealed that Turkish mobile device owners lead the way when it comes to embracing mobile payment apps at 56 percent. They are followed by Polish users at 43 percent. However, the uptake of mobile payment apps is more gradual across some of the stronger European economies, according to the survey. 

"Just one in eight have made payments via smartphone or tablet in the Netherlands (13 percent), while a quarter across Germany (23 percent) and France (25 percent), and 30 percent in the U.K. have done so, all of which lag behind leaders Turkey and Poland," said the survey. 

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