“Clearly, online banking has fully penetrated the market,” said Nessa Feddis, ABA vice president, senior counsel and retail banking expert.   “Online banking is the future of banking as more Generation Y-ers enter the marketplace.  This means the industry will need to continue investing in technology that supports online banking because consumers see it as quick, convenient, accurate and safe,” she added.

The ABA Survey documented that on-line banking was the preferred method for bank transactions among all bank customers under the age of 55.  Consumers over 55 still prefer to visit their local branch (33%) over all other access points, although online banking ranked second (20%) for this age segment.

Among all consumers, the preference for online banking was followed by visiting branches (25%), and using ATMs (15%).  The popularity of branches to handle transactions actually increased from 21% in 2009.

Consumers who cited online banking as their favorite banking method were more likely to be under 55 years of age, have an income over $75,000, and live in the Western part of the United States.  

The use of mobile banking (cell phones, PDAs, etc.) was preferred by just 3% of consumers, primarily among 18 to 34 year olds.  The popularity of ATMs was down in all age groups.

“Online banking may be the most preferred method of banking but banks remain committed to providing multiple choices to serve all consumers.   Increasing competitive focus means bank customers will continue to have the choice between branches, ATMs, telephone, cell phone, or the Internet to conduct their transactions – whichever they find most convenient for them,” Feddis said.

METHODOLOGY:  For the survey, a nationally representative sample of 1,010 randomly-selected adults aged 18 and over residing in the U.S. was interviewed by telephone via Ipsos’ U.S. Telephone Express omnibus.  With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate within ±3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire population of adults in the U.S. been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/gender composition reflects that of the actual U.S. population according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.