There is a lot of money to be made in the mobile finance market, but only if you understand the consumers.

The Mobile Intel Series: Finance, a recent survey of more than 300 million global mobile users by Millennial Media and comScore, revealed that finance was one of the biggest global vertical industries in 2011, growing more than 300 percent from the previous year (second only to technology, which grew nearly 700 percent).

Of this growing finance category, there were several sub-categories. The largest was insurance with 42 percent of the total, followed by banking, financial services and then credit cards.

Mobile banking was the finance sub-category accessed most frequently by consumers. About 35 percent accessed banking content once per week and 22 percent accessed it almost every day (see chart: Frequency of Use by Mobile Finance Users in Various Sectors).

"Finance has been among the leading mobile advertising verticals for years, but the industry is still evolving, and it's more important than ever for advertisers to understand the landscape," Senior Vice President, Product of Millennial Media, Jamie Fellows, said in a press release. "Finance advertisers have an opportunity to strategically create campaigns that will engage consumers in a variety of ways, unique to their brand."

Other notable findings by the report include:

Around 80 percent of mobile finance users own a Smartphone—an increase of 55 percent year-over-year. Additionally, 37 percent of mobile finance users own a non-phone connected device (tablet, e-reader, MP3 player, etc.).
Mobile finance users generally fall between ages 18-34 (see chart: Mobile Finance Users). The number of users in that age range almost doubles the overall mobile average. Users also over-index in the 75k+ and 100k+ income brackets.
Overall, mobile finance users are 55 percent male and 45 percent female.
Almost half of mobile finance users identify themselves as risk takers, compared to 35 percent of the total mobile audience.
About 50 percent of mobile finance users claim they will stick with a brand they like. But they also are 95 percent more likely to be influenced by a celebrity endorsement than the overall mobile audience.
Beyond finance content, mobile finance users most frequently spend time on apps and sites focused on weather (84 percent), maps (74 percent), general news (67 percent), sports information (58 percent), entertainment news (58 percent) and technology news (42 percent).

Consumers interact with their mobile devices in new ways, according to survey results. While mobile browsers are the dominant way users access mobile finance information, apps are the second most common. These customers' relationships with mobile content are constantly changing. If finance brands want to grow, they need to commit to the world of mobile advertising.

Special Reports /

Millennial Media Report Reveals Money to be Made in Mobile Finance Market

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