Close to two thirds (64%) of people online who hold a current account with a bank or building society would prefer to conduct their banking on the Web or via a mobile application compared to just 29% who prefer telephone or in-branch banking.
The survey of 2300+ UK adults by YouGov on behalf of Genpact also showed that 29% of respondents had not used their bank's call centre service, indicating the rising importance of direct access for personal banking.
Predictably, technology savvy 'Generation Y' is the most likely to prefer banking online or via a mobile application (75%) and the least likely to want to visit a branch (11%). However, over a third of over-55's surveyed would still choose to visit a bricks-and-mortar bank than go direct.
The preference for virtual banking is more pronounced among the professional class of LinkedIn users (74%) compared to Facebook, Twitter and Google+ dabblers.
Hugh Morris, Genpact's vice president of banking, Europe says:,"Fundamentally, this survey has revealed that British banks must rethink their service delivery models. The legacy, intermediated operating models dating back to the 20th century that are still in use today need to be overhauled in order to cater to the banking preferences of the next generation who want direct access to do their own banking."