More than two thirds of Australian Internet users are banking online says The Nielsen Company survey
More than two thirds of Australian Internet users (68%) are banking online once a week or more, one of the high levels around the world and 25% points above the global average, according to a study released by The Nielsen Company.
The Nielsen Company surveyed 25,408 Internet users in 46 markets from Europe, Asia Pacific, North America and the Middle East about how often they use a variety of banking services, including Internet and telephone banking, ATMs and branches.
Nielsen also asked respondents how loyal they were to their main bank.
The Nielsen survey found 16% of Australians bank online daily, while more than half (52%) use Internet banking at least once per week.
In comparison, telephone banking did not appear to be serving much purpose for the majority, and branch visits were also down, with the Internet replacing the need to speak to the bank in person.
More than half of survey respondents (56%) claimed never to use telephone banking and 16% said they never visited a bank branch.
According to The Nielsen Company, with 49% of customers claiming to visit their branch less than once a month and 16% not at all, it is critical that banks understand how to effectively execute a multi-channel strategy to keep their customers engaged.
By maximising the impact and effectiveness of their offering online, banks will not only be able to retain existing customers but also attract new customers and grow their share of the Aussie wallet.
The Nielsen survey also found that bank loyalty in Australia was high close to half of respondents (44%) said they were loyal to their bank, 7%age points above the global average.
Only 9% of respondents said they were not really loyal or not loyal at all.
Around the world the Nielsen survey found nearly one third of Brazilians and Portuguese (30%) bank online daily, along with around a quarter of Poles (28%), Chileans (27%), Dutch, Kiwis and Estonians (25%), compared to a global average of 14 %.
Across the regions, Internet banking appears to have taken off in a big way in Europe and the Pacific, with Europe home to eight of the top 10 markets with upwards of two in three consumers banking online at least once a week.
New Zealand and Australia were the other two markets in the top 10 banking online at least once a week.
On the other hand, telephone banking was following similar trends globally as it was here in Australia, particularly in Europe.
A global average of 62 % of respondents claims never to use telephone banking, lead by 93 % of Japanese. The other nine markets in the top 10 claiming never to use telephone banking were from Europe.
In spite of increasing Internet penetration in many of the world’s regions, however, over half of global respondents (54%) claim to visit a branch at least once a month, lead by Mexicans (78%), Brazilians (72%) and Chinese (71%).
A global average of 14 % claim never to visit a branch, and one third claim to visit less than once a month.
Swedes were least likely to be seen in a branch, with 36 % claiming never to visit, followed by the Dutch (34%), Norwegians and Russians (30%).
Six of the top 10 markets claiming never to visit branches hailed from Europe, but also included Vietnam (29%), Argentina (26%) and Hong Kong (20%).
And when it comes to loyalty to one’s main bank, 68% of the world’s Internet consumers claim to be or slightly loyal to their main bank, with 59 % of Canadians the most loyal of all, followed by over half of Czechs, Danes and the French.
Least loyal to their banks by a long way are the Japanese, with 29 % claiming not to have any loyalty to their bank, compared to a global average of 6%.
22-May-2007