HAMPSHIRE, U.K.–A new survey conducted by Juniper Research has found that more than 50% of U.S. consumers wanting to change banks would consider a digital-only bank.
A similar survey in the U.K. revealed similar findings.
“However, the findings showed that banks need to be more than technologically competent, as users’ top priorities include sign-up benefits and good rates, which are often more important than digital features,” Juniper Research said in its analysis.
The new report, Digital Commerce Survey: Consumer Attitudes to Mobile Banking, mCommerce & Contactless Report, found there are marked differences between U.S. and U.K. consumers around reasons to switch banks. The most common driver in the U.S. is for sign-up benefits, while those looking to switch in the United Kingdom prefer better overall rates.
According to Juniper, digital integrations are less important to consumers, with 26% of U.S. switchers reporting integration with other services as important. In the U.K., where Open Banking integrations are available, only 13% of switchers consider this a reason to switch. The survey found that almost half of U.K. mobile banking users were unsure if they had used Open Banking services, pointing to an awareness gap that needs closing for Open Banking to be successful, according to Juniper.
Card Usage Shifts the Contactless Payments Battle
The survey found that COVID-19 has greatly increased contactless payments use, with 60% of U.S. contactless users stating COVID-19 safety as a reason to use contactless payments, Juniper reported.
The company’s analysis added that despite the head start OEM Pay had in the U.S., 89% of American contactless payments users now use contactless cards, and 35% of current non-users are expecting to start using cards in future. However, use of OEM Pay solutions remains strong, with 85% of U.S. contactless users using at least one OEM Pay solution.
“Contactless cards have become a key feature for the U.S. payment landscape, in large part because of COVID-19,” said research author James Moar. “With strong OEM Pay usage, situational use of the different contactless payment solutions will emerge; potentially leading to specialized solutions in future.
The white paper can be found here.