Apps crush internet for UK banking logins

The number of internet banking logins made by Brits each day fell last year, as customers continued to migrate to apps, BBA research shows.

  27 6 comments

Apps crush internet for UK banking logins

Editorial

This content has been selected, created and edited by the Finextra editorial team based upon its relevance and interest to our community.

In 2015, there were 4.3 million online banking logins each day, down two per cent on the previous year, the BBA's Way We Bank Now report shows. In contrast, banking app logins topped 11 million a day, a 50% rise on 2014 as 40,000 apps were downloaded every 24 hours.

The number of payments made using banking apps hit 347 million last year, a 54% rise. Internet banking still has the edge here, used for 417 million payments in 2015, but this was up just two per cent.

Meanwhile, the report uses Caci data to show that the branch continues its slow death, with the number of visits projected to have fallen from 476 million in 2011 to 278 million in 2016. This is expected to continue for the next five years, with 185 million visits in 2021.

Caci figures also suggest that average visits per branch a day have fallen from 104 in 2011, to 71 in 2016 and are set to drop to just 51 in 2021. The average visits to a branch per customer per year has also declined from 13.7 in 2011 to 8.1 in 2016, and is forecast to drop to 5.3 in 2021.

However, the data suggests that this is not because customers are becoming estranged from their banks, with the overall customer interactions across channels rising.

Britain's love affair with tap and pay continues, with 15 million contactless cards issued in 2015, up 54% on 2014. Spending on these cards is rising at an annual rate of 250% with £1.1 billion spent in March 2016 alone.

Anthony Browne, CEO, BBA, says: "We are in the midst of a consumer-led revolution in the way we do our day-to-day banking. Customers love the new technology that is allowing us to bank round the clock.

"You can set up standing orders while standing in the queue for the bus and check your balance while checking in at the airport. The choice now on offer from banks, from state-of-the-art branches to cutting edge apps, has put customers firmly in the driving seat on the way we bank."

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Comments: (6)

A Finextra member 

An average of 13.7 branch visits per customer per year? Wow, someone's visiting a lot to make up for my once in five years!

Good to see that those who predicted that contactless would never take off due to security concerns were wide of the mark. You can all put away your tin-foil lined wallets and join the revolution.. (or tap your mobile instead and join the next wave).

A Finextra member 

Ha ha - yes agreed Martin!  Although I do often visit the bank just to drop off my casino winnings...not sure if I'd like them to go cashless or not?!

The trouble I find with mobile payments is that I have to keep my Oyster card in my phone case to avoid card clash, which means I have to disable NFC!  Until Android or Samsung allow me to put my Oyster in the app, I can't see that changing.

Finally, of course, for the geeks out there, there is a mistake in the headline of this story.  The word "internet" should be replaced with "web".  The web requires a browser, but banking apps definitely require the internet!  Try using one in Airplane Mode...

Ketharaman Swaminathan

Ketharaman Swaminathan Founder and CEO at GTM360 Marketing Solutions

"the data suggests that this is not because customers are becoming estranged from their banks, with the overall customer interactions across channels rising."

There goes all the predictions by finsurgents that traditional banks suck at digital, customers want digital, customers will exit banks in droves, neobanks will kill traditional banks.

A Finextra member 

@Finextra member: Why not leave your Oyster card at home and use Android Pay?

A Finextra member 

I use the Oyster to store monthly Travelcards, rather than pay for each journey.  They have daily and weekly price capping, but not monthly.  Would be great if Android Pay would let you upload your Oyster. Of course, they wouldn't make any money out of it, but it would allow me to use their service elsewhere.

(My name's Will, by the way, but views are my own)

A Finextra member 

Fair point Will, I'm an ad hoc traveller in London and wasn't aware of that restriction..

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