Online Banking Users: Older, Richer
Ever wonder what the typical online banking user looks like? If you envision an older female with an income in the six-digit range, then you’ve pretty much hit the mark.
First off, online banking was a fairly common and popular online activity in the U.S. during 2007. According to the USC Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future, 38% of respondents said they took part in online banking activities online. Meanwhile, e-mail was the most popular activity, with 96% of respondents indicating their participation, followed by surfing (71%), searching for news (60%), and searching for product information (43%).
Instant messaging (37%), playing online games (35%), and searching for humorous content (25%) were also popular activities.
A Pew Internet & Life Project survey found that of U.S. adults who have tried online banking, 69% of them had incomes of $100,000+, while 56% had incomes of $60,000-$100,000, and 42% had incomes of $40,000-$60,000.
The gender split for users who have visited online banking sites was 51.84% female/48.16% male in February 2008. With regards to age, 28.14% of these users were ages 55+, while just 11.09% were between 18-24. With regards to household income, 32.04% fell into the $30,000-$60,000 range, while 28.75% fell into the $60,000-$100,000 range, according to Hitwise.
This thumbnail sketch of the current online banking landscape could lend some motivation to gain the trust and affections of younger users as soon as possible. Since younger users may pose a security concern, banks could opt to offer more limited online access to this demographic, while at the same time giving them opportunities to be educated about the best ways to go about their online banking experiences. This would be a good stepping stone towards nurturing a more engaged and dedicated user in the future.
There are various other approaches that banks and financial institutions could take in light of this data. With online banking still in its nascent stages, there is much more progress to be made.
