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New research released this week showed how significant the pandemic has been and will be for consumers using mobile and digital banking tools.
Research from the nonprofit organization BAI found that more than 50% of consumers have used "digital banking applications more since the start of the pandemic. Furthermore, 87% of consumers plan on maintaining their increased usage after the end of the pandemic."
Karl Dahlgren, managing director at BAI, said, "COVID-19 has forever changed the way customers interact with their financial services organizations. Digital channels have become the new storefront, and consumers are finding banking apps easier to use and a more convenient way to conduct their financial business."
The survey, conducted in August 2020, aimed to understand how digital banking behavior had shifted for consumers once the coronavirus had spread in the U.S. According to the report, a majority of digital banking users increased their digital banking usage as "69% reported that they found the digital banking applications intuitive and figured out how to use them on their own. Consumers also report high satisfaction with digital banking, with 92% indicating that their financial services organization's digital tools met their needs."
While the findings appear to be good news for financial institutions, Dahlgren warned, "However, financial services leaders must continue to invest in digital banking tools and resources moving forward since the percentage of consumers who would prefer to use a branch after the pandemic ends decreased compared to our survey conducted in January 2020."
BAI's survey also found while the branch remained the top choice for consumers to get advice about more complex products or services, "the percentage of consumers preferring the branch decreased from 45% to 32%" since January 2020.
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Michael Ogden
Editor-in-Chief at CU Times. To connect, email at [email protected]. As Editor-in-Chief of CU Times since 2016, Michael Ogden has led the editorial team in all aspects of content strategy and execution, including the creation of the publication’s exclusive and proprietary research database of the credit union industry’s economic landscape. Under Michael’s leadership, CU Times has successfully shifted to an all-digital editorial product with new focuses on the payments, fraud, lending and regulatory beats. Most recently, he introduced a data-focused editorial product for subscribers that breaks down credit union issues into hard data, allowing for a deeper and more factual narrative for readers. In 2024, he launched the "Shared Accounts With CU Times" podcast, which offers a fresh, inside-the-newsroom perspective through interviews with leaders from the credit union industry and the regulatory world. He dives into pressing credit union issues, while revealing the personalities working behind-the-scenes to push the credit union world forward. His background includes years as a radio and TV anchor/reporter and a public relations and digital/social media manager, where he covered the food and music industries, as well as cooperatives and credit unions. Over the years, he has launched numerous exclusive video and podcast series, including a successful series of interactive backstage interviews with musicians at music festivals, showcasing his social media and live streaming production skills.
