Online Banking has Overtaken Branch Banking in Popularity: Survey

TORONTO, Jan. 25, 2012 /CNW/ - Canadians are now more likely to conduct day-to-day banking transactions online than at a branch, according to TNS Canada's annual How Canadians Bank survey. Half of Canadian adults (52%) conducted transactions with staff at a branch of a financial institution in the month prior to taking the survey, and a similar proportion (50%) had banked online in the same period. However, online banking is used much more frequently—35% of Canadians bank online at least once a week, compared to only 15% of Canadians who visit a branch on a weekly basis.

"Online banking continues to steadily grow in popularity. Canadians appreciate the convenience of 24/7 access to their accounts and the speed with which online transactions are conducted", says Rhonda Grunier, Vice President of Financial Sector research at TNS Canada. "But this doesn't mean that branch banking is on its way out. The proportion of Canadians who visited a branch in the past month has been stable since 2005. The banks recognize the value of having personal contact with customers at the branch, and many have stepped up efforts to attract customers to the branch, for example, by having branches open on the weekend and improving amenities, such as adding customer lounges."

The survey also found that mobile banking is taking off, with one out of four Smartphone owners using a mobile banking service. "This is quite an impressive number, considering that mobile banking apps have only been fully rolled out by the banks for about a year now", says Rhonda Grunier.

About the Survey   

TNS Canada's annual How Canadians Bank study has been monitoring trends in Canadians' usage of various banking channels since 1994. For the 2011 wave, 2,009 Canadians aged 18 and over were surveyed between October 5^th and November 14^th, 2011, using a self-administered questionnaire.

About TNS

TNS Canada (formerly known as TNS Canadian Facts) is the Canadian arm of TNS. TNS advises clients on specific growth strategies around new market entry, innovation, brand switching and stakeholder management, based on long-established expertise and market-leading solutions. With a presence in over 80 countries, TNS has more conversations with the world's consumers than anyone else and understands individual human behaviours and attitudes across every cultural, economic and political region of the world.

TNS is part of Kantar, one of the world's largest insight, information and consultancy groups.

About Kantar

Kantar is one of the world's largest insight, information and consultancy groups. By uniting the diverse talents of its 13 specialist companies, the group aims to become the pre-eminent provider of compelling and inspirational insights for the global business community. Its 28,500 employees work across 100 countries and across the whole spectrum of research and consultancy disciplines, enabling the group to offer clients business insights at each and every point of the consumer cycle. The group's services are employed by over half of the Fortune Top 500 companies.

For further information, please visit us at www.kantar.com

Rhonda Grunier  
Vice President
416.924.5751 ext.339
[email protected]