Brits wary of banking tech, despite demand

Nearly a third (30 per cent) of Brits say their bank is over-ambitious introducing additional services on different devices, saying they do not need or want more ways to interact.

At the same time, over two-thirds (69 per cent) expect their bank to be delivering the latest technology to them and a third (34 per cent) say that since they started using devices to manage their money, their financial goals are clearer.

This is according to ING’s seventh technology survey, which took in 14,824 respondents in 15 countries - including 13 across Europe - suggesting that while Brits are optimistic about having the latest financial technology available to them, they are not necessarily adopting it as fast as it is becoming available.

For those using devices - tablets, phones or wearables - to manage their money, many agreed they keep a closer track of their finances. Since they started using devices to manage their money, 67 per cent said they view their account balance more frequently, 32 per cent said they take less risk with their money and 41 per cent said they now think about money more.

The conflicting views on expectation vs adoption may be due, in part, to a lack of trust in technology and concerns over the security of how we interact with tools. Only half of Brits (52 per cent) rated facial recognition as a secure tool, while 22 per cent who believe voice recognition is not secure.

Further to this, 62 per cent of people in the UK were not comfortable with a computer programme making investment decisions on their behalf and 41 per cent said no to receiving recommended improvements to their spending habits from robo-advisers. In fact, 70 per cent maintain the use of their local bank branch, in most cases in addition to the use of technology to access banking services.

When it comes to awareness around financial data sharing innovations, such as the second Payment Services Directive (PSD2), many are still in the dark. In fact 52 per cent of Brits were not aware that in some countries, providing consent is given, financial providers can access information held by other companies. Similarly, 64 per cent said they would not be happy to use this and only 23 per cent say it would be useful.

Jessica Exton, behavioural scientist at ING, said that many people are now mobile bankers, using multiple devices to manage their money on the go and across different platforms. “Yet while a large majority agree that the latest financial technologies should be available to them, when it comes to newer digital ways of managing money, we see some hesitance around adoption.”

She continued that if over time these new digital approaches are shown to be reliable, useful and socially accepted, it is possible that the uptake of services - such as automatically generated advice for budgeting and even investing - could be rapid.

“That was the experience with the uptake of mobile banking – consumers indicate that they want banks and other financial institutions to stay in the lead by developing new ways to help them manage their money despite any reluctance to accept them immediately.”

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