Digital-only banking adoption is set to grow considerably over the next five years, according to Finder.com’s Digital Banking Adoption Report.
Finder polled 41 654 people across 30 countries to reveal the number of people who will have a digital-only bank account will increase by an average of 11 percentage points by 2026.
Mexico is estimated to have the biggest increase (20 percentage point increase), followed by Vietnam, Brazil, the Philippines and Malaysia (all at 18 percentage points).
Currently Brazil has the highest percentage of digital-only bankers (32%), and with an additional 18% planning on opening an account in the next five years, around half the adult population will have a digital-only bank account by 2026.
Indonesia has the second most digital-only bankers (25%), followed by Ireland (25%), Vietnam (23%) and Poland (22%).
On the other end of the spectrum, the US ranks 30th at the bottom of the list, with an adoption rate of just 6%. Canada ranks second-last at 9%, with Finland, Mexico and Denmark all sitting at 11%.
Finder’s global fintech editor, Elizabeth Barry, says she’s not surprised that digital-only banking adoption is set to increase in every country included in the study.
“Digital-only banks typically have lower fees, better customer service and are the first to launch new technologies and features to make banking easier for the customer,” she says.
“However consumers aren’t necessarily ditching their legacy bank in favour of a digital-only bank – they’re potentially engaging with multiple brands to meet their needs, whether that’s account aggregation, the ability to send remittances or invest at the click of a button, or to get a better interest rate on their savings.
“Overall, the data suggests that digital-only banking adoption will increase from an average of 17% to 28% by 2026 – a jump of 11 percentage points.”
However, Barry notes that some countries have a much more aggressive adoption growth rate than others.
“The US, which ranked at the bottom of the list, is also expected to have one of the smallest increases among the 30 countries, meaning just 11% of adults are expected to have a digital-only bank account by 2026.
“Both Canada and the UK are also expected to have modest increases in adoption compared to countries such as Mexico, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brazil.”