• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, April 11, 2013

Many people are now using their phones for banking and payments, but security concerns remain.

The IAB’s “Mobile and Money” study released Thursday showed that 83% of consumers are aware of their bank’s mobile app, with 58% regularly using it. Similarly, three-quarters know their bank has a mobile optimized presence, with half using the site. Major banks such as Citi and Chase continue to promote their apps and mobile tools heavily online.

Conducted in partnership with InMobi and Viggle, the study also found fairly high awareness of tax-filing apps (57%), although only a small percentage (6%) are using them to do their taxes. While it’s hard to imagine tax-filing taking off on mobile, other money-related activities are finding higher adoption.

Redeeming coupons was the most popular type of mobile payment, with 57% doing so, followed by paying bills (46%), paying for digital goods like apps and ringtones (45%), paying mobile phone bills (42%), buying tickets (37%), and paying for physical goods (34%).

Competition in the mobile payment space has heated up in the last two years, with a wide range of players entering the fray, from big banks and card companies to Google to startups like Square. The IAB report found that only PayPal’s mobile app to date has gained significant traction, with 37% having downloaded it.

Other apps that people have downloaded to make payments or keep track of finances include Mint (11%), Turbotax (9%), Square (8%), and Google Wallet (7%). The study indicated that worries about security are holding back higher adoption of such offerings. More than half (52%) surveyed said they would need a more concrete “guarantee” financial transactions are safe before shifting to more personal finance activities to mobile.

The survey sample of 1,243 adults is drawn from users of Viggle’s social TV app. It skews toward tech-savvy, 25- to -34-year-olds that are also “more coastal and more urban than the average consumer," per the study.

Given that even these users still have security concerns, Anna Bager, who heads the IAB’s Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence, said marketing efforts should address perceived security issues to encourage wider mobile financial use.

"Phone and Money photo from Shutterstock"