TYSONS, Va.–Consumers who are “savings savvy” and who use technology to support or enable financial services have a better financial outlook, according to a new survey.
The survey, sponsored by PenFed, found that on average, technology users have more financial security, have more in savings, use a budget more frequently, put money in savings more often, expect to save more in the future and save for retirement at a higher percentage rate.
Among the findings:
- Three quarters (76%) of respondents use either automatic savings, a banking app or both technologies. They are both used virtually equally (48% automatic savings and 50% banking app).
- Adults who have either automatic savings or a banking app are more optimistic about their financial outlook than those who do not use either technology (63% to 47%).
- Women are somewhat more likely to use the technologies than men (78% to 74%). Men are more likely to use automatic savings than women (51% to 45%), while women are more likely to use a banking app than men (57% to 42%).
- Adults with automatic savings on average have $3,000 more in savings compared to adults who only use banking apps and $4,000 more than adults who use neither technology.
- Four in five (80%) adults who have automatic savings are monthly savers, which is significantly higher than adults who use a banking app (52% monthly) and adults who do not use either technology (31%).
- Adults under 44 are more likely to use the technologies than older adults (86% to 67%).
- The majority of younger adults (54%) use automatic savings, compared to 42% of older adults. Likewise, younger adults are more likely to use a banking app than older adults (57% to 43%.