Average Brit hasn't visited a bank in almost two years

Are bank branches becoming obsolete to British consumers?

It would appear so, with 85% of participants polled in a new study stating they prefer to phone their bank or send them a message via social media instead of going into a branch if anything is wrong.

The team at www.VoucherCodesPro.co.uk conducted the poll as part of ongoing research into how Britons prefer to deal with their finances alongside new technological advancements. 2,198 Britons aged 18 and over, all of whom stated that they have at least one bank account, were quizzed about their account and how they choose to interact with their bank.

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Initially all respondents were asked ‘When you have an issue with your bank that needs resolving, how are you likely to communicate with them?’ to which 47% of respondents stated that they’d ‘phone the bank’, 38% would opt to use social media, whilst just 12% would visit their local bank branch and the remaining 3% claimed they’d ‘hope the issue would resolve itself’.

Wanting to delve a little deeper, all respondents were asked what bank related interactions they’d been able to stop doing thanks so technological advancements in banking.

When provided with a list of possible options and told to select all that applied, the top five bank interactions that Britons hadn’t carried out for at least 12 months were revealed as follows:

I haven’t written a cheque - 89%

I haven’t spoken with a branch employee face-to-face - 68%

I haven’t visited a bank branch - 63%

I haven’t needed to pay money directly into the bank - 52%

I haven’t needed to pay a cheque into the bank - 47%.

According to the poll, when asked to estimate roughly how long it had been since they had visited their bank branch, the average response was revealed as ‘1 year and 10 months’. Similarly, when asked when they last wrote out a cheque, more than one half of respondents (52%) admitted that they’d never written one or even had a cheque book.

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Furthermore, when asked their thoughts on bank branches, 65% feel they’re more directed towards the elderly, 55% believe they’ll disappear from the high-street within the next 10 to 15 years, and a further 30% think the next generation will have no need for local branches at all.

George Charles, spokesperson for www.VoucherCodesPro.co.uk, made the following comments: “It’s a harsh reality that one day there’s going to be no need for actual cash. Think about it; the majority of shopping these days is either done online or, in the very least, paid for by card. Carrying cash just isn’t the most popular method these days. Whilst there will forever be a need for banks, we may not see local branches on our high street in 5, 10 or 20 years’ time.”