A new report from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) estimates that over two billion users will access retail banking services via smartphones, tablets, PCs and smartwatches in 2018, up 10% year-over-year.

The research group found that accelerated adoption in key emerging markets such as India and China means that mobile banking users now represent 50% of the global banked population. Juniper expects that the number of global mobile banking users will now overtake online users in 2018, two years earlier than previously anticipated.

2017 saw banks worldwide engaging in both technology investments and new tech offerings, although the extent of these activities varied considerably. Juniper analyzed leading tier-1 banks to evaluate their digital transformation readiness scores and highlight their respective positioning within the digital innovation roadmap.