The percentage of consumers using mobile devices to access their brokerage accounts nearly doubled in the last three years, according to a report by Corporate Insight. A survey of over 1,500 online investors found 43% have used a mobile device to access their account at least once in the past year, up from 28% in 2011.
The 2014 Investor Survey Report attributed a lot of the growth to millennial investors.
"Younger investors are much more interested in managing their accounts using a mobile platform than older investors are," Anneli Lefranc, senior research associate at Corporate Insight and primary author of the study, said in a statement. "For many millennials, the mobile investing experience is the customer experience."
Millennials were more likely to use a mobile device to place trades than older respondents. Across all age groups, the primary reason for signing on from a phone or tablet was to check an account.
The report found no significant difference in mobile use between self-directed investors and those who use a full-service brokerage. However income and the type of device respondents owned were factors in mobile usage. Forty-six percent of mobile users accessed their mobile account through an iPhone app, and 35% used an iPad app. Twenty-seven percent went through an Android app.
Corporate Insight noted that respondents with higher annual household incomes were more likely to use iPhone and iPad apps than other investors. However, iPhone apps were still used more often than other devices, even among those with income under $40,000.
The report detailed ways for firms to improve their mobile offerings. Indeed, just 37% of mobile users said they were "very satisfied" with their firm's mobile platform, even though 53% said they were that happy with the firm overall.
