According to a new study released by UserTesting, 83% of respondents prefer traditional banks over online banks, largely due to a preference for speaking to a bank teller face-to-face.
For the study, UserTesting, a leader in experience research and insights, surveyed 1,800 Americans, 1,000 individuals in the United Kingdom and 1,000 Australians from March 3 to April 12, 2023. All respondents were adults with bank accounts. The study was conducted by market research company OnePoll, which has members in the Market Research Society.
The study revealed that 27% of people globally “strictly” use traditional banks - 28% of baby boomers and 26% of millennials. On the other hand, while online banks usually offer the best rates on high yield savings accounts or CDs, only 12% of respondents said they’d prefer to bank with one.
From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance
Become a smarter, better informed investor. Subscribe from just $107.88 $24.99, plus get up to 4 Special Issues
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
“We’re seeing a strange dichotomy in banking unfolding in front of us,” said Dana Bishop, VP of Experience Research Strategy at UserTesting. “We know physical banking branches are closing in droves, yet the data here supports that consumers — especially in younger generations — crave the in-person benefits traditional banks provide.”
In fact, 79% of Americans who bank digitally wished their banks offered some of the perks traditional banks have, such as waived fees that customers get at the ATMs of their respective, traditional banks. One of the main perks that causes people to prefer traditional brick and mortar banking, however, is face-to-face service.
Thirty-eight percent of respondents wished that digital banks also had the option to talk to humans when calling customer support, although 55% of Americans revealed they had not actually spoken with a bank teller face-to-face in the past two weeks when interviewed.
Accenture’s Top 10 Banking Trends for 2023 reported that “the absence of interest rate competition caused banking’s drawbridge to come clattering down, allowing a flood of digital-only banks to rush in. It also caused banks to shift most of their attention to those products that were still generating revenue. In the process, however, they became less customer-centric.”
However, a higher percentage of Americans trust digital banks over traditional banks than individuals in the United Kingdom and Australia. Nearly a third of Americans reported they trust digital banks more than traditional banks, compared to only 4% of Australians and 7% of U.K. respondents. Overall, most respondents viewed traditional banks as the most trusted banks.
-
December Fed Meeting: Live Updates and CommentaryThe December Fed meeting is one of the last key economic events of 2025, with Wall Street closely watching what Chair Powell & Co. will do about interest rates.
-
This Is Why Investors Shouldn't Romanticize BitcoinInvestors should treat bitcoin as the high-risk asset it is. A look at the data indicates a small portfolio allocation for most investors would be the safest.
-
I'm a Federal Benefits Pro: I Answer These 2 Questions a LotMany federal employees ask about rolling a TSP into an IRA and parsing options for survivor benefits, both especially critical topics.
