42 percent of bank customers never go into a branch
The vast majority of people in Germany do their banking online. It is also slowly catching on among older people.
Significantly more people use online banking than in the previous year.
(Bild: Bundesbank)
81 percent of people in Germany do their banking online. This was determined by the IT industry association Bitkom in a survey of 1004 people, 901 of whom were Internet users. In the group of people aged 65 and over, a majority of 54% use their bank's online services for the first time. A year ago, the proportion was 45%. Among 16 to 29-year-olds, the figure is 94 percent. 76% of all respondents use their smartphone at least occasionally and 82% use their laptop. Desktop PCs accounted for 43% and tablets 42%.
In the association's series of annual surveys on this topic, the group of people who only use online banking, i.e. never visit a bank branch, is currently the largest for the first time. Their share is currently 42 percent compared to 38 percent in the previous year. The number of those who mainly use online banking has fallen from 43% to 40%, while 16% say they mainly use branches and only occasionally carry out their banking transactions online. In 2023, this figure was 17 percent. In its statement on the survey, Bitkom did not specify how many of those surveyed already have their main accounts with an online-only bank; a query from heise online has not yet been answered.
49 percent would not miss bank branches
54 percent of respondents could imagine switching their main account to an online-only bank without a branch network. At 71 percent, this proportion is highest among 16 to 29-year-olds. 44% could imagine opening a current account with a digital company and 37% with a tech start-up. 49% say they would not miss anything if there were no more bank branches. Among 16 to 29-year-olds, this figure is 62%.
70 percent of respondents have business relationships with more than one bank, on average with around two banks, while 11 percent have accounts or custody accounts with four or more banks. 32 percent of online banking users who have accounts with more than one bank use multibanking apps that allow them to manage accounts with different banks under one roof.
58 percent have already changed their main current account. Last year it was 55%, in 2022 51% and in 2018 35%. Those who change their account once usually don't leave it at that: 13% of them have changed their account once, 15% twice, 34% three times and 28% four times. 8% have changed their account five or more times.
More willingness to take risks through online offers
42 percent of respondents also use their online banking to invest money, for example in ETFs or shares. 8 percent rely on special online brokers for their online investments. 55 percent of respondents stated that these offer higher interest rates on overnight money, 52 percent said that they charge lower fees than traditional banks or brokers. 47 percent stated in the survey that they only started investing in different products as a result of online services. 31 percent would not make any financial investments without online offers, 51 percent admit that they take higher risks through online investments.
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According to Bitkom, 37% of respondents said they would like to receive advice on their pension provision from an AI. 26% believe that an AI can make better recommendations on financial products than a human. 20 percent would use an AI to take over their financial planning and tell them, for example, what they can still afford or where they need to save.
(anw)
