Consumers Prefer Online Banking to Traditional Branch Banking

PRINCETON, N.J., May 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- More than half of consumers prefer to do their banking online and nearly half would do all of their banking online if they could. This was a key finding of the national consumer survey on retail banking trends conducted by Rosetta, an independent brand in the Publicis Groupe of global agencies and one of the nation's largest digital and direct interactive agencies.

52 percent of respondents said their bank's website is their primary method of banking, while only 32 percent said the branch was their primary method of banking. 48 percent of respondents said they would do all banking online if they could. 

"Banks are missing an opportunity to better engage with consumers online and create a consistent brand experience across all channels," said Rosetta Managing Partner Ned Elton. "Retail bank marketers need to identify ways to apply the same level of personal touch and feel currently offered to retail branch customers through the online channel."

The Rosetta survey found that consumers use online banking most frequently to:

• check account balances and recent activity
• make an individual bill payment to another account
• transfer money between accounts
• obtain financial information

"Cash transactions, such as deposits and withdrawals, continue to keep consumers tethered to the branch," said Elton. "However, this is becoming less of a factor because people are using credit more often than cash and because of the emergence of alternative payment options, such as PayPal and near field communications." He also noted that mobile banking capabilities may further reduce the need for consumers to visit a retail branch.

The survey also found that the digital banking experience lags traditional retail banking in security, usability and rewards. 64 percent of respondents cited a need for stronger online security and privacy features; 57 percent of respondents cited a need for 'clear and easy-to-follow' online layouts; and 58 percent of respondents expressed interest in rewards/points programs for online banking.

"It is our belief that many Financial Services companies have yet to fully capitalize on the potential of digital marketing to acquire new and engage existing customers," said Elton. "As a result, their marketing continues to focus too much on traditional media channels and the 'bricks and mortar' world. We call this the 'digital divide'."

Rosetta conducted the survey to better understand the size of the "digital divide" by asking consumers about their banking channel usage and preferences for how they use them. With more than 1,100 respondents across a variety of age groups and socioeconomic levels, the survey is significant for its size and scope. The survey was conducted in two waves in May and July of 2011.

For a full copy of the study, please contact Ned Elton at [email protected].

About Rosetta

Rosetta is a consulting-centered interactive agency engineered to transform marketing for the connected world. Rosetta drives material business impact by translating deep consumer insights into personally relevant brand experiences across touch points and over time. Their differentiated capabilities and structure have enabled them to become one of the market leaders, operating as an independent brand platform in the Publicis Groupe of global agencies. Rosetta is ranked by Ad Age among the top U.S. digital agencies and was named the #1 Agency to Watch in Ad Age's 2011 Agency A-List.

Rosetta has deep industry expertise in Healthcare, Consumer Technology & Entertainment, Consumer Products & Retail, Financial Services and Business-to-Business (B2B). The combination of a patented approach to market segmentation; technological depth across platforms and devices; world class creative, design and user experience capability; scale and integrated structure; and deep vertical industry expertise have attracted many of the nation's leading brands to Rosetta. The agency's clients include Allergan, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Bristol Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson and Novartis in Healthcare; Microsoft, Rogers Communications and T-Mobile in Consumer Technology & Entertainment; Coach, Express, Jos. A. Bank, OfficeMax, Valvoline and United States Mint in the Consumer Products & Retail sector; Citizens and Nationwide in Financial Services; and MSC Direct, Wirtz Beverage Group and Lincoln Electric in B2B.
Rosetta is headquartered in Princeton, NJ, with additional offices in New York, Cleveland, Chicago, Toronto, San Jose, San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles and Orange County.  



For more information, visit www.rosetta.com.

SOURCE Rosetta

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