We recently engaged YouGov to survey 2,087 UK adults to explore how their attitudes and behaviour in digital banking have changed since March 2020.

Some of the key findings from this research are below:

• 81% of adults say the quality of online experience determines who they bank with.
• Use of online web banking overall rose significantly, with half (50%) of those who have used digital banking services more since the pandemic began stating they have used online web banking more often.
• The highest rise in usage for online web banking was amongst the 55+ age group (60% using this service more often).
• Among those who have used digital banking services more since the pandemic began, 35% of 18 to 24 year olds increased their usage, followed by 32% of 25 to 34 year olds and 31% of 35 to 44 year olds.
• The 55+ age group remain more reluctant to embrace making payments via smartphones and smartwatches, as only 16% of this age group increased their usage.
• The importance of online experience between different age groups was quite illuminating with 46% of those in the 55+ age group stating that it was “very important” compared to only 26% of 18 to 24 year olds.
• Use of all digital banking services has grown since the start of the pandemic, with the largest increases being for use of mobile banking apps, with two-thirds (66%) of those who have used digital banking services more since the pandemic began stating they have used mobile banking apps more often.
• This growth in the use of mobile banking apps is led by the under 35’s, with 85% of 18 to 24 year olds and 79% of 25 to 34 year olds, using mobile banking apps more often. Use of mobile banking apps within the 55+ age group has also seen a significant increase (52%).
• The use of both website chat facilities and automated chatbots only saw overall rises of 14% and 10%, respectively.

This research clearly shows that the events of the past 18 months have accelerated the adoption of digital banking services by consumers across all age ranges.

However, although the quality and ease of use of the digital experience is clearly now of high importance to a large majority of users when choosing who to bank with, this was of highest importance to the over 55s.

There’s a lot of talk about the often-predicted demise of web-based banking services in favour of mobile banking apps, but this research indicates that this has been overstated and that customers are choosing to use both facilities more, with little to separate them in terms of how much their usage has increased.

For those of us who work in fintech all day, every day, we are constantly striving to improve user experience across a multitude of digital platforms in order, at times, to achieve marginal gains. Those marginal gains gradually can, and in our experience – will – lead to more sales, better return on investment on campaigns and fewer lost customers, to name a few gains.

The most successful companies all have one thing in common: they regularly test their digital journeys with real customers and use the insights gained to optimise and drive conversions, avoiding the trap of making decisions on a ‘hunch’.

As we look to 2022, with an increasing number of new digital-only challenger banks who place a great focus on the quality of their digital experience in the market, incumbent banks should take note.

Mark Lusted is the chief executive of MagiClick UK