The most popular digital items the nation uses are its laptops/computers (82%), smartphones (32%) and tablets (28%). Technology has sped up a number of household chores and tasks – controlling central heating, lights and even the fridge or oven from smartphones, online banking, tax and insurance, to name just a few. One in ten admit to using more than one item of technology at the same time with 41% of those saying they do this most of the time. While, staggeringly almost a fifth (18%) admits to spending over five hours a day on technology outside of work, and 21% saying they spend 3-4 hours a day.

Daryl Wilkinson, Head of Group Digital Development at Nationwide said: “The research is really interesting I think we all generally appreciate that in one way or another technology has helped make our lives easier, whether that’s online banking, or online shopping or leisure pursuits. Personally, I know that doing chores online like transferring money or food shopping definitely saves me time and if I am away for business that then means I can use the time saved to go online and talk to my children face to face, maybe even do some homework or reading with them. It’s win, win.

“With that in mind and the speed at which technology is developing and moving forward how we behave is continually changing and that means what we want from companies like our financial providers needs to reflects that. For example, our customers can contact us 24/7 on our Twitter page and in addition to using our hugely popular app to do all their banking they can check their balance on a smartwatch, alongside using our traditional branch network. It will be fascinating to see what is around the next corner and what proves the next big thing with customers.”