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

Included in Bain's annual “Customer Loyalty in Retail Banking Report,” the mobile-specific data underlines how important the channel has become. In the U.S., for instance, mobile banking users record the globe's highest frequency of use, with survey respondents averaging 4.9 mobile transactions in the prior three months.

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

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

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

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

The Bain research indicated that mobile banking is a proven tool for heightening customer loyalty.  It pointed to findings from Citi and Chase that substantiated the claim.