This Month in Retail Banking
The shift to digital continues unabated in consumer banking and with it, further disruption to the industry. That’s according to the latest Curinos U.S. Shopper Survey, which is fielded every year among consumers in the top 70 DMA markets who have recently chosen a new primary banking provider. Respondents report that their most important driver of convenience is “useful online/mobile,” a 42% increase in only three years. Accompanying the finding is the increasing preference to “complete all banking activities from the app,” which accounts for the growing importance of being “easy to reach by phone,” referring to engagement via the mobile phone app.
The survey, which was fielded in October 2022, also reveals that the importance of “branch-centric factors” continues to plummet – to only 24% of respondents, down from 50% in 2014 and 32% in 2019. (See Figure 1.)
Figure 1:
Reported Drivers Of Convenience
The accelerating migration to digital banking continues to underscore the need for brand differentiation. Neobanks and direct providers, through their distinctive product features and customer experiences, continue to grow market share at the expense of banks that rely on more conventional delivery channels. Their penetration of primary checking relationships now stands at 38% of the industry, up from only 21% in 2018. (See Figure 2.) As the Curinos research has shown, acquiring new-to-bank checking accounts is paramount to earning primacy and gaining market share.
Figure 2:
Primary Checking Account By Bank Type
