Online banking with personal computers is already well established in Switzerland. Mobile banking using smartphones much less widely used. But trends show that this pattern will change in the future. “Young adults use app-based banking almost as much as PC-based online banking,” states moneyland.ch CEO Benjamin Manz.
Online banking in Switzerland
81% of Switzerland’s adult population access web-based online banking services with a desktop or laptop computer at least once a month. 5% seldom use online banking, 4% use it several times per year, 35% use it monthly, 37% use it weekly, 8% use it daily and 2% use it multiple times per day.
78% use online banking at least once a month to order local transactions, 74% use it to track their account balances, 69% use it to track their expenses, 37% use it to manage credit card accounts, 26% use it to make international transactions, 16% use it for wealth management, 15% use it for securities trading, 12% use it to manage their pillar 3a assets and the same percentage uses it for personal loans, 9% use online banking for mortgages.
Mobile banking in Switzerland
Mobile banking using smartphones is far less widely used in Switzerland than online banking using personal computers. 43% of the adult population uses mobile banking via smartphone at least once a month, 10% rarely use mobile banking, 4% use it several times per year, 14% use it monthly, 20% use it weekly, 7% use it daily and 2% use it multiple times per day.
43% use mobile banking at least once a month to track their account balances, 39% use it to track their expenses, 37% use it to order local transactions, 26% use it to manage their credit card accounts, 13% use it to order international transactions, 9% use it for securities trading and the same percentage uses it for personal loans. 10% use it for wealth management, 7% use it to manage pillar 3a assets and 6% use it for mortgages.
Mobile banking notably more popular among young adults
Age has a significant influence on the popularity of mobile banking. “The younger the customer, the more likely they are to do their banking on a smartphone,” says moneyland.ch analyst Silvan Wehrli. 65% of adults between the ages of 18- and 25-years old use mobile banking at least once a month, compared to 50% of adults aged 26 to 49 and 26% of adults between the ages of 50 and 74 years old.
61% of adults under the age of 25 use mobile banking at least once a month to track their account balances, 60% use it to order local transactions and the same percentage uses it to track their expenses. 48% use it to manage their credit card accounts.
A point of interest is that young adults are less likely to use online banking via personal computers than older adults. Just 75% of adults aged 18 to 25 years old use online banking once a month or more, compared to 86% of adults aged 26 to 49 and 79% of adults between the ages of 50 and 74 years old.
Men use online banking more than women
83% of men use online banking via personal computers at least once a month, compared to 79% of women. The gender gap is even more significant for mobile banking. Only 38% of women use mobile banking once a month or more, compared to a notably larger 49% of men.
Differences between German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland
Online banking is more popular in German-speaking Switzerland than in French-speaking Switzerland. 83% of adults in German-speaking Switzerland use online banking via PCs at least once a month, compared to 77% of adults in German-speaking Switzerland. Results are similar for mobile banking via smartphones. 46% of adults in German-speaking Switzerland use mobile banking at least once a month, compared to 39% of adults in French-speaking Switzerland. Online and mobile banking are both somewhat less popular in rural areas than in urban areas.
