The rise of digital banking

Have you ever thought about doing away with your traditional bank account and opting for a 100% online option? While digital-only banking is not yet the norm, it’s becoming increasingly popular. Around 28% of German adults – an estimated 19.7 million – say they have a digital-only bank account and that number is set to grow according to our latest Google Survey of 1,509 adults.

Digital banking adoption is set to increase

Over the next year, a further 8% of respondents say they plan to open a digital-only or 100% online bank account and an additional 4% say they plan to open one over the next 5 years. That means within 5 years more than 27.7 million German adults are expected to hold online-only bank accounts.

Who is most likely to use a 100% online bank account?

Men are currently more likely than women to have a digital-only or neobank account – 25% of women are neobankers compared to 29% of men. However, when you take into account those planning to open an account, the gap widens. By 2025, 36% of women say they plan to have an online-only bank account compared to 42% of men.

Which demographics bank online?

While we might think of young adults as the most digitally savvy, just over a quarter (26%) of those aged 18-24 say they have an online-only bank account – the same percentage as those aged 65+. Those aged 45-54 are the most likely to have an online-only bank account now (37%) and in 5 years’ time (46%).

How does Germany compare to the rest of the world?

Brazil and Germany have the biggest percentage of online-only bankers out of the 13 countries included in the study, with 28% of each adult population reporting they bank digitally. India, Malaysia, Spain, Singapore and the Netherlands also have a large proportion of the population banking online, with around one in five adults currently holding neobank accounts.

Those in Italy are least likely to have an online-only bank account at just 12%, followed by France at 13%. Digital banking adoption is currently sitting at 15% in the Philippines, Mexico and Ireland and at 16% in Hong Kong.

Where is digital banking growing the fastest?

Over the next five years, India is set to experience the biggest boom in digital banking adoption, with a 21 percentage point increase in the number of adults with online-only bank accounts. This means that by 2025, we estimate that just under 400 million Indian adults will hold neobank accounts. Brazil, Malaysia and the Philippines are also expected to see significant growth with an increase of 16% in each country, followed by Mexico and the Netherlands (15% each) and Germany and Hong Kong (12% each). Spain, Italy and Singapore are expected to have a more modest, but still significant, adoption rate of 10%, while the data suggests Ireland and France will have the slowest growth rates at 7% and 5% respectively.

Methodology

• Methodology

  Google Survey details are as follows:

  Mexico: 2,007 adults, representative, collected 10-12 March 2020.
  Brazil: 2,045 adults, representative, collected 10-12 March 2020.
  Germany: 1,509 adults, representative, collected 13-15 March 2020.
  France: 1,526 adults, representative, collected 12-14 March 2020.
  Spain: 1,207 adults, representative, collected 11-13 March 2020.
  Hong Kong: 1,203 adults, convenience sampling, collected 9-26 March 2020.
  Malaysia: 1,205 adults, convenience sampling, collected 9-15 March 2020.
  Singapore: 1,204 adults, convenience sampling, collected 9-27 March 2020.
  India: 2,512 adults, convenience sampling, collected 9-17 March 2020.
  Netherlands: 1,205 adults, convenience sampling, collected 13 March – 2 April 2020.
  Italy: 1,523 adults, convenience sampling, collected 11-13 March 2020.
  Philippines: 2,014 adults, convenience sampling, collected 10-12 March 2020.
  Ireland: 1,218 adults, convenience sampling, collected 10-12 March 2020.