More customer banking online, Central Bank finds

Customers are moving away from over the counter transactions in banks and increasingly moving towards cashless and automated or self-service activity, according to data from the Central Bank.

The data, which relates to customer behaviour in 2019 and is compared with 2015, assess changes among four customer profiles.

A “standard” customer uses the majority of the functionality available on their account, with regular use of online banking and contactless transactions, and occasionally incurs limited out-of-order charges.

A “non-standard” customer has a similar usage pattern to a standard profile customer, but uses overdraft/unauthorised overdraft facilities and frequently incurs out-of-order transaction fees.

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An “electronic” customer is a significant user of the more automated functionality of their account, and of electronic/online and contactless transactions.

Finally, a “manual” customer uses over-the-counter transactions, is unlikely to utilise contactless transactions, and has a greater reliance on cheques.

Data

The data from the Central Bank shows an overall reduction in over the counter withdrawals for the majority of customers, particularly “manual” users, due to “a greater shift towards more cashless transactions”.

There has also been a “significant increase” in point of sale debit transaction (including online transaction) figures for all customer profiles “given advancements in technology”.

A “significant decrease” in point of sale debit contactless transactions has also been recorded for electronic and standard customers, but an increase for manual customers.

The Central Bank said this indicated that these customers are now becoming more digital in their transactions.

The data also shows an overall decrease in credit transfers, reflecting different transaction methods being used; and an increase in direct debit/standing order charges for all customer profiles except the electronic profile, which remains unchanged.

“The revised number of occurrences included in the updated profiles reflect revised usage patterns based on consumers moving towards cashless and automated/self-service transaction,” the bank added.