2022 vs 2023: Banks outpace other sectors in pleasing customers with their digital experience

In the digital-first world of today, online banking can make things convenient and easy. But one technical glitch or an overall unpleasant digital experience can leave banks in debit with their customers.

Data from YouGov Global Profiles shows that three in ten consumers agree that they are uncomfortable using online banking - but over two in five consumers disagree with that statement. Does that mean consumers are by and large happy with the digital experience banks offer?

A recent YouGov survey asked consumers across 17 international markets about which sectors they think provide a good digital experience for customers. First impression - consumers are less happy this year about the digital experiences brands provide than they were in 2022 and this holds true for all the sectors we’ve listed in our poll.

But overall, it’s the banking sector which is most likely to please consumers. Banks lead with over two in five (43%) of the public saying they think banks offer good digital experiences. However, this is down from last year when 46% of consumers held this opinion.

Let’s now look at what consumers in individual countries feel about digital experiences provided by their banks.

Asians are happier than Europeans with the digital experiences provided by their banks

In 2023, Indonesia accounts for the largest proportion of consumers (58%) who are happy with the digital experience provided by banks, marking a four-percentage-point improvement (54%) from 2022. More than half of all consumers in urban India (51%) and Hong Kong (51% in 2023, down from 56% in 2022) are of the same opinion. Notably, Hong Kong held the top spot last year for the largest share of consumers who were happy with banks’ digital experience.

The US steps up with two notable mentions in our survey. Firstly, consumers here account for the lowest share of those in 2023 who say banks offer a good digital experience. Secondly, the market records the most significant drop in figures - from more than two in five (45%) consumers in 2022 to less than a third (31%) in 2023. The US banking sector made headlines for a number of reasons earlier this year - from a string of small and mid-sized banks having their credit ratings downgraded by Moody’s, to the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapses.

Brits are less happy this year (46%) with the digital experiences offered by banks than they were last year (53%), while it’s the other way round in the UAE - and satisfaction climbs from 43% to 48%.

Consumers in the Asian markets we survey are more likely than those in our European markets to say they are happy with banks’ digital offering. Figures in Asia across both years are more or less similar for individual markets, except for Hong Kong, which dipped five percentage points from 56% in 2022 to 51% in 2023.

As for Europe, Poland leads at 47% (up from 44% in 2022) followed by Italy, which also improved its score (from 43% to 45%). At less than a third (32%), consumers in Germany are the least likely in this region to find banks’ digital experiences good.

Finally, a third of consumers in both our Nordic markets - Sweden and Denmark (33% each) - say banks provide a good digital experience. Both figures have dipped from those in 2022 - 38% in Sweden and 40% in Denmark.

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Methodology: YouGov Surveys: Serviced provide quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. The data is based on surveys of adults aged 18+ years in 18 markets with sample sizes varying between 513/512 and 2008/2000 for each market. All surveys were conducted online in August 2022/August 2023. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from Mexico and India, which use urban representative samples, and Indonesia and Hong Kong, which use online representative samples. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Serviced.

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