How different generations use financial services

Jamie BallardData Journalist
August 08, 2018, 3:30 PM GMT+0

One-quarter (25%) of baby boomers say that they never use an ATM at all

Millennials may not be the only generation that prefers interfacing with a screen instead of a person – at least when it comes to banking. According to data from YouGov Profiles, millennials and Gen X’ers are almost equally likely to prefer using an ATM rather than seeing a bank teller.

55% of millennials and 54% of Gen X said this was their preference, compared to only 42% of baby boomers. A slight majority (53%) of baby boomers said that they prefer seeing a bank teller.

One-quarter (25%) of baby boomers say that they “never” use an ATM at all. Another 24% of people in this generation say they use an ATM less frequently than once a month. In contrast, only 9% of millennials and 13% of people in Gen X say they “never” use an ATM. However, these generations still aren’t visiting the ATM too frequently. A quarter (24%) of millennials visit the ATM less than once a month, while 11% visit only once a month. For Gen X, the numbers are similar: 23% and 10%, respectively.

Interestingly, millennials are less likely than baby boomers to use web browsers for online banking. About half (52%) of millennials said they access their bank account online using a web browser, and only 30% said they pay their bills online using their bank account. For baby boomers, these numbers were higher: 63% and 46%, respectively.

However, millennials were considerably more likely to say they use their mobile devices for banking. One-third (33%) say that they use the web browser on their phone to do mobile banking, while 41% use a mobile app. In contrast, only one in five (19%) of baby boomers use their phone’s web browser for banking, and only 22% use a mobile banking app.

Learn more about YouGov Plan & Track.

Image: Getty

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