Prevalence of online phone banking and a peek at who keeps away

Online banking has gained immense popularity across the globe in recent years, as data from YouGov Profiles bears out. Looking at five major markets – the US (27%), Great Britain (40%), India (34%), UAE (27%) and Australia (41%) – at least a quarter of consumers in each of these markets use their phones for finance and banking every day, going up to two fifths of consumers in two of these markets.

But as prevalent as online banking and finance have become, concerns do remain with significant shares of consumers in each market saying that they’re uncomfortable with it. And this does correlate with lower usage of finance and banking apps in most of the markets.

This effect is strongest in Britain and the US, where the share of daily finance and bank app usage among those who say they are uncomfortable with online banking is half that of the overall audience in those markets. Smaller differences are present between the two groups in other markets too.

But who’s uncomfortable with online banking?

Somewhat surprisingly, younger audiences are slightly more likely to say they are uncomfortable with online banking.

In the US, 34% of younger consumers say they are uncomfortable using online banking compared to 30% of those aged above 55.

Nearly two in five young urban Indians (38%) say they are wary of online banking, with that share dropping to 31% among those aged over 55. A similar difference is noticed between the youngest and oldest segments in UAE (39% vs 31%). In Australia, the difference between the three age groups isn’t that stark.

Over in Britain, it is the oldest segment of consumers most likely to express a lack of comfort with online banking. While just under a fifth of middle-aged Brits say they are uncomfortable using online banking (19%), that share rises to 25% of the oldest segment.

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Methodology: YouGov Profiles is based on continuously collected data and rolling surveys, rather than from a single limited questionnaire. Profiles data for most markets is nationally representative and weighted by age, gender, education, region, and race. In India, the sample represents the urban population only. Learn more about Profiles.

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