Fewer than one in 10 Brits have gone digital-only and a quarter are uncomfortable with online banking, according to a new YouGov survey.
Its tracker data from the past six months showed that only eight per cent are using mobile-only banks to manage their money, while 35 per cent don’t use mobile banking to interact with their main provider at all.
While most of the public do manage their money digitally, they’re typically using technology provided by traditional institutions: around half (53 per cent) use their bank or building society’s app, with a similar proportion using their online banking services (48 per cent).
YouGov pointed out that digital banking is an established technology, and most of the public use it regularly. Of that half that use smartphone apps to interact with their main provider at least once a month, 18 per cent do so once a day – and 27 per cent do so once a week.
Two-thirds (67 per cent) use online banking services monthly, with a third (34 per cent) logging in once weekly and 13 per cent doing so once every 24 hours.
But if most Brits use these services, data from YouGov Profiles revealed that a significant minority (23 per cent) are uncomfortable with them. Over a quarter (26 per cent) still manage their money via their local bank branch, and only eight per cent said they never visit in-person.
A greater proportion of Brits said they never use their institution’s online service (12 per cent) to interact with their main provider, and a far greater number avoid mobile apps (35 per cent).
Meanwhile, YouGov's BrandIndex Buzz Rankings for the banking sector showed that Nationwide beat Monzo and First Direct. Buzz scores are calculated by asking members of the public if they’ve heard anything good or bad about a brand in the past fortnight.
Matt Palframan, YouGov’s director of financial services research, commented: “If most of the public uses digital banking in some form, many still value the in-person experience – and only a small proportion have gone fully online.
“When it comes to apps and digital services, Brits heavily favour those provided by established institutions and building societies.”
He added: “The FinTech market is not fully mature, and this could certainly change – for the moment, though, it appears the main beneficiaries of the mobile banking revolution are the legacy banks it was meant to overthrow.”
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