The younger generations are embracing mobile apps to manage their finances and make payments, according to research by Visa.
The payment company’s third Digital Payments study, which included more than 2,000 UK respondents, revealed that 69% of those aged 18-34 have used a mobile banking app, with more than half (53%) doing so regularly.
In the wider UK population, 38% regularly conduct their banking via an app.
According to Visa, the results reflect traditional providers’ increased investment in digital offerings, as well as the growing number of app-first “challenger banks” entering the market.
Asked about making payments via mobile, over a third (34%) of UK consumers say they have now made a peer-to-peer (P2P) digital payment using a mobile device. Here, too, millennials are out in front, with three fifths (59%) saying they have used a mobile device to send money to a friend or family member.
This generation is also more comfortable with the idea of using fingerprint scanners to authenticate their identity. The survey found that 35% of 18-34 year-olds would prefer to make P2P payments using biometrics, compared with a national average of 30%. Meanwhile, 37% would like to use this technology in conjunction with a banking app, compared to 31% of all respondents.
Jonathan Vaux, executive director of Innovation Partnerships at Visa, said that until relatively recently, simple transactions such as transferring money between accounts meant visiting a bank branch in person.
“We are now seeing banks embrace the flexibility offered by apps to reduce the pain points for customers and allowing them to stay on top of their finances while on the move. In essence, anyone with a smartphone or tablet is now able to take their bank branch with them wherever they go.”
