Online and mobile gaining ground over telephone and branch-based banking - YouGov

Close to two thirds (64%) of people online who hold a current account with a bank or building society would prefer to conduct their banking on the Web or via a mobile application compared to just 29% who prefer telephone or in-branch banking.

The survey of 2300+ UK adults by YouGov on behalf of Genpact also showed that 29% of respondents had not used their bank's call centre service, indicating the rising importance of direct access for personal banking.

Predictably, technology savvy 'Generation Y' is the most likely to prefer banking online or via a mobile application (75%) and the least likely to want to visit a branch (11%). However, over a third of over-55's surveyed would still choose to visit a bricks-and-mortar bank than go direct.

The preference for virtual banking is more pronounced among the professional class of LinkedIn users (74%) compared to Facebook, Twitter and Google+ dabblers.

Hugh Morris, Genpact's vice president of banking, Europe says:,"Fundamentally, this survey has revealed that British banks must rethink their service delivery models. The legacy, intermediated operating models dating back to the 20th century that are still in use today need to be overhauled in order to cater to the banking preferences of the next generation who want direct access to do their own banking."

Related Companies

Genpact

Channels

Retail banking

Keywords

Mobile & online banking Branch banking Call centres

Comments: (4)

Melvin Haskins - Haston International Limited - 10 January, 2014, 09:27

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A pity that the statistics did not break down the preference between banking on the Web and mobile banking. Previous surveys have shown that Brits are not taken with mobile banking.

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A Finextra member 10 January, 2014, 09:51

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It's not a shocking result! More of another me-too analysis of the natural & continous shift from physical touchpoints to digital.

Even if nothing is done, the shift continues. Just like the Internet penetration where there were heaps of survey of the exponential YOY growth but anyone still speaks about it today!?

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A Finextra member 10 January, 2014, 12:20

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I’m looking forward to reading the full report. Something that extensive will no doubt have considered whether people want to use their mobile and tablets exclusively. Or whether they want or need occasionally to use other channels.

Also given it’s YouGov, it no doubt takes into account the needs of all citizens. Though average UK broadband speeds topped 12Mbps in 2013, much of that improvement was driven by the rollout of fibre optic cable – which doesn’t reach everyone yet, far from it. And many older connections are too slow to sustain an online banking session. From personal experience slow lines often can’t sustain a Skype call. In 2011, 14% of customers with fixed broadband connections (excluding superfast broadband connections) had speeds of less than 2 Mbps – the minimum that the government thinks is acceptable for broadband.

There are many reasons customers may prefer branches or phone. Broadband access is expensive if you’re on a low budget.

There’s absolutely no doubt many citizens want to use our smart devices for financial services. But not all the time, and not all of us can – even if we want to. Resolution isn’t just about banks updating their systems, it needs a holistic strategy spanning all citizens and regions.

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Ketharaman Swaminathan - GTM360 Marketing Solutions - Pune 14 January, 2014, 15:09

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As next step, is there anything stopping banks from doing a channel-wise customer profitability analysis and jettisoning low-margin customers who show a predilection to use a certain channel?