Banks without branches or call centres could soon become the norm in the UK.
A new survey by Accenture has revealed that a quarter of people would consider using a purely digital bank, and of respondents aged 25 to 34 a third would be likely to use it.
The percentage of people using mobile banking on a monthly basis also rose from 10% to 27% over the past year.
Online banking
Based on interviews with more than 3,600 UK current account holders, the survey points to continuing growth in the use of digital banking.
80 percent of customers go online at least once a month to bank, while monthly mobile banking usage has risen to 27 percent of customers compared with 21 percent in 2012.
Peter Kirk, a managing director in Accenture’s Financial Services group, added:
This year’s survey underscores the growing complexity in how consumers want to interact with banks in the digital age.
Branches aren’t dead yet
Banks have shut vast numbers of branches, saying that customers have reduced their visits in favour of banking on the move and from home.
Interestingly though, the survey pointed to an increase in the number of young people using them.
The youngest, most tech-savvy-customers still value face-to-face contact as they begin their life’s financial journey, whereas older customers who are further along in their work life are more open to a digital-only relationship.