Mobile Growth Racing Ahead at Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America
The mobile banking market is not saturated — not even close.
The three largest banks — JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo & Co. — saw sustained growth in the first quarter — one of the fastest-ever for Bank of America, said CEO Brian Moynihan during today’s earnings call.
But Wells Fargo’s growth rate on the quarter was more than twice BofA’s — 9.3% compared with 4.4% for Bank of America. JPMorgan Chase posted similar gains to Bank of America for the quarter, also increasing active mobile users 4.4%.
Bank of America’s year-over-year growth, while still impressive, was far below its two rivals. It grew its mobile user base just 14.6% on the year, while Chase grew 19.2% and Wells 18.8%.
| Active Mobile Banking Users | 1Q15 | 4Q15 | 1Q16 | QOQ | YOY |
| JPMorgan Chase | 19.9 | 22.8 | 23.8 | 4.4% | 19.2% |
| Wells Fargo | 14.9 | 16.2 | 17.7 | 9.3% | 18.8% |
| Bank of America | 17.1 | 18.8 | 19.6 | 4.4% | 14.6% |
Bank Innovation has been gathering mobile banking usage data at the nation’s largest banks since the first quarter of 2013. The chart below illustrates Chase’s growing lead over Bank of America during the three-year span, and Wells Fargo’s recent bumpy growth. Still, all three banks are growing massively, and with no signs of slowing.
And yet many banks do not reveal mobile numbers. For those that are publicly traded, stockholders should demand this information, because in it lies a bank’s future.
