Several recent reports provide insight into how consumers are using their phones for financial services. Meanwhile, mobile applications are being designed for mortgages.
Among the findings from a survey conducted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. was that 11 percent of Americans are starting a search for a home on their mobile devices.
But while home shoppers have become more independent during the initial steps of the home search,
more than 70 percent still rely heavily on a mortgage professional.
Chase’s report,
Insights from the Mind of the Modern Homebuyer, was based on an online survey among a nationally representative sample of 1,014 adults and a total sample of 1,852 respondents.
The eLEND Rate My Rate
mobile loan estimate comparison tool promises to help prospective borrowers evaluate the Loan Estimate disclosure and better compare home lenders, a May 5 statement said.
Rate My Rate reads information off of a Loan Estimate then utilizes the eLEND pricing engine to compare the terms with what other mortgage companies are offering.
The eLEND tool compares the Loan Estimates based on loan costs over five years, principal paid in five years, annual percentage rate, total interest percentage and total loan costs.
A May 17 press release from Address Mortgage indicates that its new mobile application, Mortgage Tracker,
improves turnaround for residential loan approvals and the purchase process.
Prospective borrowers are first qualified, then when they find a property to bid on — they can use the app
to generate an approval letter for the seller based on their qualifications.
Home buyers can grant real estate agents access to the app so that all parties have the same information.
A report announced on May 25 by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Opportunities for Mobile Financial Services to Engage Underserved Consumers, indicates that un-banked and under-banked households — those that utilize alternative financial services providers — can obtain more control over their finances and gain access to mainstream banking services through mobile banking.
Mobile financial services can help banks address many of the core financial service needs of under-service consumers, the regulator said. This is especially true where traditional banking channels might be perceived to be less successful.
“Access to an account at a federally-insured institution provides households with the opportunity to conduct basic financial transactions, save for emergency and long-term security needs, build a credit history, and access credit on fair and affordable terms,” the FDIC said. “Broad participation in mainstream banking also reinforces public confidence in the financial system.”
A report released earlier this year by the Federal Reserve Board, Consumers and Mobile Financial Services 2016, found that 43 percent of adults with mobile phones and bank accounts reported using mobile banking. That was up 4 percent from a year earlier. A majority of consumers surveyed considered the mobile channel as one of the three most important ways they interact with their bank.
But the use of mobile payments was far less than mobile banking in general, with just 28 percent indicating that they had
made a mobile payment in the 12 months prior to the survey.
The Fed’s report indicated that younger adults and Hispanics more frequently used mobile banking and mobile payments. In addition,
smartphone ownership among those with mobile phones was higher for Hispanics than for non-Hispanic whites
Among banks that stand out in mobile banking is BB&T, which
announced that Javelin Strategy & Research ranked it third in the 2016 Javelin Mobile Banking Leader in Functionality. Upgrades to BB&T’s U application reportedly helped push its ranking up from No. 18 in 2014.
