hile many of us now check our e-mail from the phone and even do a little bit of Web surfing, plenty of people are still weary when it comes to using their Blackberry or cell for online banking. A recent study by IBM and the Opinion Research Corp. has shown that 89 percent of cell phone users do not conduct banking on their mobile devices.

But, the number of those using their phones to pay bills and check balances is rising, particularly amongst the younger – and highly sough after – 18 to 34 year old demographic. Within this age bracket, the use of mobile banking was found to be 21 percent of cell phone users. This figure is more than double that of the general population, and it’s expected to dramatically increase amongst the so-called Generation Y group.

In fact, within the past year, the number of mobile bankers has risen from nearly nothing to 1.7 million users. And within two years, the number of Americans predicted to be using the technology is set to rise to about 35 million people (or 10 percent of the population).

Currently, nine of the 10 big banks in the U.S. offer mobile banking, with the Bank of America ranking as the branch with the most users. Despite widespread availability, most are reluctant to adopt the service due to security concerns. All of this makes sense, considering some of those stories concerning credit fraud and identity theft are enough to scare even the most hard-edged technophile into visiting their local branch.