Online banking to become the norm by 2015
19 Jan
Source: Imgspark
In a world where we are becoming increasingly reliant on technology to keep track of our finances, mobile banking and internet banking are set to become the norm by 2015. For myself, I love the freedom of being able to move money around, and check my bank balance at any time I like and the only thing I go into a bank for is to pay in or remove hard currency – if only there was a slot in my PC for that too!
According to “The new Digital Tipping Point” survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers, reported in Financemarkets, digital banking is set to be the norm by 2015 and that people will be willing to pay for it:-
The survey, of 3000 people in nine countries, suggests that customers are willing to pay up to £10 a month for online banking if they receive convenience and added-value services.
These could be services such as financial management tools, transaction notifications through Twitter, Facebook and other social networks, and loyalty cards.
Two thirds of UK respondents to the survey said they would pay around £4 a month for a loyalty card which would allow them to collect points that they could convert into cash.
The survey suggests that banks are lagging behind industries such as retail and travel in using technological developments to improve their services.
It also suggests that in the UK, the “optimal” price for digital banking would be £4.20.
It stands to reason that banks need to embrace the digital revolution and expand their services to bring themselves up to date.
In a statement, Stephen Whitehouse, a partner at PwC, said: “Banks are clearly missing a trick if they don’t start to invest in their digital offerings and only see digital as a way to reduce costs.
“The majority of banks still only provide basic mobile and Internet banking services.”
I find I can do just about everything I need to online, the only improvements I would like to see would be a wider variety of tools to aid in tracking outgoings etc, but I can use spreadsheets to do that, which isn’t really inconvenient. I can’t really see at the moment how £4 a month would be value for money for something that is presently part of most current account packages.
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