NEW YORK—Consumers are increasingly unlikely to switch to another financial institution should their branch close, according to a new report.
Accenture’s Banking Shaped by the Customer report, which surveyed more than 4,000 retail banking customers in the United States and Canada between Jan. 19-26, 2015, shows that an overwhelming majority (81%) of consumers would not switch FIs if their local branch closed.
Accenture said that is a significant increase from the 52% of respondents in the company’s 2013 retail banking study who said they would be unlikely to switch financial institutions if their branch closed. At the same time, 34% of consumers said that online is the most important channel for banks to invest in over the next five years, followed by mobile (cited by 20% of respondents).
“This is a big change in the evolution of retail banking,” Mulhall said. “For the first time in our research, consumers ranked online banking services as the number one reason for staying with their bank, ahead of branch locations and low fees. It’s no longer a question of proximity to the local branch that is driving consumer choice, it’s a matter of which banks are offering the strongest online capabilities and mobile applications.”