M-banking continues to grow apace in Brazil

M-banking, or the use of mobile devices for banking operations, grew 138% in Brazil last year, according to the findings of a study released by Brazil's national banks association Febraban.

Last year users conducted 11.2bn m-banking operations, accounting for 21% of the total number of operations for the period.

The study, conducted by consultancy Deloitte, involved surveying 17 banks which together account for 93% of all Brazil banking assets.

In 2014, there were 4.7bn m-banking operations, comprising both financial and non-financial (such as account balance enquiries) operations. Of the total, only 5% were financial transactions.

Since 2011, m-banking accesses have grown by more than 100%. Last year about 33mn bank accounts were linked to mobile accesses, 8mn more than in 2014.

Except for points-of-sale, all other banking channels, including internet banking, last year saw a drop in the number of operations performed compared with 2014.

According to the study, digital channels – internet banking and m-banking – accounted for around 54% of all 54bn financial and non-financial banking operations carried out in Brazil last year. Of the 54bn total, 20% were financial transactions.

In 2014 digital channels overtook traditional physical channels in terms of the number of operations conducted by customers.

According to Febraban, nearly 90% of Brazilians older than 16 had a bank account last year.

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This year's study also showed that local banks spent 19bn reais on technology last year, down from 21bn reais in 2014.

The amount allocated to software surpassed that allocated to hardware for the first time, to account for 44% of the total.