The extent that mobile usage is displacing traditional banking practices was shown by a Bank of America statistic that nine per cent of all its cheques deposited now go through iPads and mobile phones.

The figure was cited by Brian Moynihan (pictured), the bank’s president and CEO, on a conference call with analysts following the company’s Q4 2013 results.

He said the figure had grown to nine per cent from seven per cent in Q3, 2013, a significant take-up for a service that only launched a year earlier.

The bank has seen a shrinking number of physical branches as more customers opt for online and mobile banking.

That take-up will shape the bank’s investment priorities, said Moynihan: “So we have probably a half a billion dollars we put in the online and mobile platform across the last three or four years, and we’ll continue to invest at that rate.”