Consumers Unimpressed With Their Digital Banking Experiences, Study Finds
Roughly 18% of consumers don't use their bank’s online services because they “don’t fully trust them.”
The vast majority of consumers are underwhelmed with their experiences using digital tools and services — including with their financial institutions, according to new research from Stamford, Conn.-based research and advisory company Gartner.
The survey of over 4,000 U.S. and UK consumers found that across 11 industries, at least 84% said their digital experiences fell short of expectations. Only 16% of respondents rated their digital perceptions in the top quarter of Gartner’s Digital Consumer Experience index. In addition, about one in five (18%) of consumers who choose not to use their bank’s online services say they avoid those services because they “don’t fully trust them.”
“In fact, among consumers who have used the digital services we asked about, 26% (banking) to 49% (government) rate their perceptions in the lower two quartiles of our index, leaving a lot of room for improvement,” Gartner Managing Vice President Brad Holmes said.
The study asked consumers to evaluate actions such as placing a retail order, submitting a service request to a bank, buying life insurance, paying a government bill and checking healthcare benefits. Gartner asked consumers about their level of trust, perceived ease of use and whether they felt they saved time or money.
Millennials were especially disappointed with many of their digital experiences, Gartner reported.
“Out of all generations, they have the lowest opinion of most industries’ digital services,” Holmes said. “This may be because baby boomers and other older generations use over time has made them more immune to poor ease of use, or that they have become resigned to doing what it takes to get value one way or another.”
Simplifying the process for submitting service requests and using chat for support seem to have helped consumers feel their financial institutions’ digital offerings are easier to use, the findings suggested.
“Customer focus is a top business priority for CEOs and subsequently a large investment area for CIOs,” Holmes said. “Despite these efforts, consumers report significant gaps in enterprises’ ability to make digital experiences easy, to earn their trust, and to deliver desirable results.”
“Given that most industry’s digital experiences don’t perform very well in the eyes of the consumers, this is a wake-up call for all CIOs,” the study added.
The findings add to a string of studies and surveys suggesting that many consumers are indeed wary of digital interactions with their financial institutions.
In June, for example, surveys by New York-based financial services research and advisory firm Celent found that the majority of consumers (55%) wanted in-person interactions when they felt a conversation was necessary, and 77% wanted face-to-face engagement for “substantive conversations,” including for things such as getting advice, setting goals or applying for a new loan or account.
In July, a FICO study found that 64% of consumers felt elaborate passwords were unneeded; 71% said captcha codes were frustrating; and about half (48%) were frustrated with two-step verification. Overall, about eight in 10 said they didn’t see the need for what they considered unwarranted security procedures.
However, recent research from FIS found that more than one in four credit union executives (28%) think their credit unions were investing too much in digital transformation, and 8% expected to dial back their efforts over the next 12 months.