Online and offline banking through consumers’ eyes
4 March 2024 - 3 min Reading time
Online banking use is still on the rise. A fifth of Belgians (22%) say they did digital banking on their computer or through banking apps more often in 2023 than the year before, with the app, in particular, appearing to be overtaking PC use. For many, online banking has clearly become an indispensable part of their daily lives. However, even if physical appointments or cash withdrawals are becoming increasingly rare, the idea of having a bank branch or ATM nearby remains important to a large proportion of Belgians.
These are the findings from an online survey commissioned by Febelfin and conducted by the research agency iVOX.
Online survey commissioned by Febelfin and conducted by research firm iVOX between 6 and 14 December 2023 among 1,000 Belgians representative of language, gender, age and education. The maximum margin of error for 1,000 Belgians is 3.02%.
The most important findings at a glance:
Online banking use is still on the rise. 22% of Belgians (25%) say they did digital banking on their computer or through banking apps more often in 2023 than the year before.
The most popular channels for using banking services are by far the PC (87%) and the smartphone app (85%).
The bank app is becoming increasingly popular. Although PC banking was clearly preferred in the past, the app is now also gaining the same acceptance. The app is by far the most frequently used to make transfers. 69% of all transfers are done via the app, and 30% via PC banking.
Clearly, many Belgians are trying out new communication channels, and especially the live chat. The proportion of respondents using live chat is increasing every year (2020: 33%; 2023: 42%)
The top 3 services most used via mobile and internet banking are: making payments (77%), checking balances/transactions (68%) and making transfers between own accounts (47%).
The group that has not yet made the move to online banking keeps on shrinking. The main reasons for this are the fear of falling victim to abuse and the preference to arrange their banking affairs at the branch.
61% of Belgians never or less than annually go to the bank branch. However, 8 in 10 Belgians still indicate that they consider it important to have a physical bank branch nearby. Only a small minority of those who sometimes make a physical appointment at the bank do so for day-to-day banking, such as making transfers and payments (6%) and collecting account statements (5%).
Belgians still go to a physical bank branch for advice on their personal financial situation (31%), monitoring investments (30%) and applying for and managing loans (19%).
7 out of 10 respondents believe that it is easy to arrange a physical meeting at their branch.
Belgians are increasingly paying digitally and withdrawing less and less cash. The
number of cash withdrawals fell by 10% year-on-year in 2023. In ten years’ time, the number of withdrawals has more than halved.
