Business consulting firm Bain and Company has announced newresearch findings that lead it to pronounce that “mobilebanking soars – usage in U.S. increases 50% since 2011.”

Included in Bain's annual “Customer Loyalty in Retail BankingReport,” the mobile-specific data underlines how important thechannel has become. In the U.S., for instance, mobile banking usersrecord the globe's highest frequency of use, with surveyrespondents averaging 4.9 mobile transactions in the prior threemonths.

Bain indicated that mobile banking's biggest impacts will be on what itcharacterized as “routine banking transactions.” Case in point: 64%of U.S. respondents said they would “highly value” use of theirphone to check account balances.

Forty-one percent (41%) said they would “highly value” mobileremote deposit capture.

Twenty-six percent (26%) said they would highly value theability to pay bills with a mobile device.

“Mobile banking presents profit-strapped banks with anopportunity to shift routine transactions from high-cost physicalchannels to much lower-cost digital channels,” said Gerard du Toit,Bain financial services partner and lead author of the report, in aprepared statement. “It also presents opportunities for banks tocreate more 'wow' experiences that use new digital technologies todelight customers and deepen customer loyalty.”

The Bain research indicated that mobile banking is a proven toolfor heightening customer loyalty. It pointed to findings fromCiti and Chase that substantiated the claim.