We salute the inaugural Bank of America Trends in Consumer Mobility Report. Bank of America commissioned a study which, thankfully, tells us much more than the story of Americans’ online banking transactions. Almost a half of Americans (47 percent) consider they “wouldn’t last a day without their smartphone”. Americans are addicted to the smartphone even more than to the two of their previous addictions, coffee (60 percent) and TV (76 percent), according to the report.

Regarding the financial transactions, close to a third of the Americans log in daily and more than 80 percent log in at least once a week to their online banking account. Bank of America states that more than 165 million logins are performed monthly through smartphones. Another mobile banking transaction on the rise is that of check depositing. Over 170.000 checks are deposited each day through Mobile Check Deposit.

Even if 62 percent of the interviewees have tried mobile banking at least once, the visits to bank branches remains unchanged. The reasons have probably changed, though. Almost half of the respondents prefer the mobile banking app. Regarding other people’s smartphone utilization, what bothers most respondents is when somebody checks their phone while driving. We subscribe to that.

Americans are addicted to the smartphone more so than to the deodorant

For 96 percent of the young people in the age group between 18 and 24 years old, the smartphone is very important, even more than the deodorant and toothbrush.

The smartphone usage is so embedded in people’s behavior that only seven percent find somebody eating at the same table and checking their smartphone to be annoying. Ross Rubin from Reticle Research thinks that the advent of wearable gadgets will alter this behavior. Until then, 35 percent of the people in Bank of America commissioned study said they are constantly checking and using their phone. Americans are addicted to their smartphones, but some are more than others.

The smartphone influences so much of our daily lives that it becomes a part of our identity in a very material and biological sense. A study published in PeerJ reveals that more than 80 percent of the bacteria found on the smartphone display are part of the owner’s personal microbiome. Of course that touching the display on average 150 times a day would lead to that. While not unthinkable news, the information might lead to new ways of investigating and reporting medical situations. The correlation between bacteria found on the display and gender was high among women, but this was a study based on only 22 subjects, so it’s just a hypothesis. If Americans are addicted to smartphones, it might as well be used to enhance the medical services.