Digital Banking Tools See Dramatic Rise in Use During COVID: BAI Research

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.