A report from Austin, Texas based Malauzai Software – based on data derived from users of itsmobile banking applications – indicates clear differences in howmembers user iPads and how they use smartphones.

That is not unexpected, given the substantial difference in formfactors – size mainly – but the Malauzai data puts concrete shapeon what the differences are.

One huge surprise: iPad login attempts fail 27% of the time,compared to 15% on smartphones. Said Malauzai in its report, “Wespeculate that this is because many tablet end-users are lesscomfortable with their on-device keyboards, which can make anend-user stretch to hit keys, especially when they are trying tohold the devices in their hands.”

That is a puzzling result precisely because the iPad screen isso much larger than a smartphone screen.

Expected, however, is the other top-line result in the report:when iPad users log in, they stay online longer.

Wrote Malauzai: “iPad end-users use mobile banking 50% longerthan their smartphone counterparts, with average session durationof 1 minute and 45 seconds. Both smartphone and iPad users loginapproximately three times per week.”

iPad users also are much more likely to consult theirtransaction histories. Wrote Malauzai: “Transaction details are used by 73% of end-usersafter login for iPad vs. 37% for all smartphones. We speculate thatthis is caused by the transactional data being more readilyavailable to iPad end-users with more of a prominent display andlarger text. It simply may be easier to look at this data on theiPad which is driving the usage so high.”

The bottom line: Tablets are functionally different devices from smartphonesand, accordingly, how they are used will be different. Manymobility experts say that may trigger a need on the part of creditunions to treat tablets differently — perhaps according them morepermissions.