The degree to which the internet, smart phones and other devices are impacting the financial services industry has been revealed in new research released by Bankwest confirming that while baby boomers are reluctant converts, 95 per cent of Gen Y and 93.8 per cent of Gen X prefer to do their banking on line.
By comparison, 78.4 per cent of baby boomers prefer to use on-line banking, as do 72.5 per cent of pre-baby boomers.
According to the Bankwest Online Transactions Report, Gen Y engages most often with their finances, with almost half (48.1 per cent) saying they use the internet for banking several times a week, with 5.7 per cent doing so several times a day.
Commenting on the research, Bankwest general manager, retail, Mark Reid said it was not surprising that Gen Y were more engaged with online banking, but the fact that some of them checked their balances several times a week and even several times a day suggested they were extremely engaged with their personal finances, which was encouraging.
The report also found that a significant proportion (40.3 per cent) of Gen Y often or always multi-task while managing their banking online. By comparison, only a quarter (27 per cent) of Gen Xers and an even smaller proportion of baby boomers (11.0 per cent) and pre-boomers (3.2 per cent) multi-task.
It found that more than half of younger Australians frequently bank through smart devices, with close to two in five of Gen Y (38.4 per cent) and more than a quarter of Gen X (28.5 per cent) using an app for their banking needs.
It said older generations are more reluctant to take up this option, with the majority of pre-boomers (82.3 per cent) and baby boomers (63.4 per cent) claiming they had never used a banking app.
