Mobile banking uptake sees new spike in Brazil

Brazil has seen a significant spike in the transactions carried out via smartphones, according to a recent report.

There was an increase of 30 percent in mobile banking in 2017 with 25,6 billion transactions carried out via that channel out of the total of 71,8 billion transactions for the year, according to a study by the Brazilian Banking Federation (FEBRABAN).

Of the m-banking total, there was an increase in the operations involving money transactions, with a 70 percent jump on the prior year with 1,7 billion transactions.

As Brazilian customers continue to adhere to mobile banking, the use of cash as well as physical branches has also been decreasing. According to FEBRABAN, cash withdrawals at ATMs dropped by 4 percent and the number of bank branches decreased by 6.8 percent from 2016 to 2017.

Drivers behind the m-banking uptake include the ever increasing growth in smartphone adoption. According to predictions by Brazilian think tank and university Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV), the number of smartphones in Brazil should match population growth by 2022 and reach 236 million.

Also, 4G provision has been improving in Brazil. According to consulting firm OpenSignal, the country has jumped to the 42nd position in a ranking of 77 countries listed in the State of the LTE report in 2017. In 2016, Brazil ranked 52nd.