In the age where digital advancements are a norm, even traditional entities like banks are going completely online. Neobanks are digital banks that can only be reached through an online platform. It provides all its services through a web or mobile portal. These neobanks do not have physical banks that users can visit.

With the demand for faster round-the-clock service, many banking institutes have taken to offering digital or virtual services. Real Research launched a survey to find out just how popular neobanks are on a global level. Our insight draws light to the public’s awareness, considerations, and expectations from neobanks and their offers.

Highlights

  • Over 56% of the respondents already hold a neobank account and prefer mobile banking as their preferred banking channel.
  • Over 60% of the respondents say they gain greater customer experience with neobanks.
  • Neobank users fulfill various banking needs with neobanks including fund transfers, bill payments, savings, international remittance, and more.
  • Over 43% of the respondents agree to 24/7 access to banking being the greatest benefit of neobanks.

Mobile Banking Prevails, Over 57% Prefer Mobile Banking

Respondents prefer mobile banking over other options
Respondents prefer mobile banking over other options

From a total of 200,000 respondents, 57.5% said they prefer mobile banking as their preferred banking channel. While 30.7% said they prefer traditional banks and 11.7% chose web banking. The popularity of mobile banking could easily be due to the fact that almost everyone now owns a mobile phone. Unlike traditional banks, neobanks do not have a weekly day off thus, giving their users simultaneous access to their assets throughout the week at any time.

Interestingly web banking seems to be the least favorable option. This could possibly be due to the lack of ownership of personal laptops, tablets, or desktops. It could also stem from the possibility that not all homes could have a wifi connection while it is highly possible for most phones to have access to mobile data.

Furthermore, over 60,000 of the respondents were of the 19-29 age group and over 50,000 fell between the 29-39 age group. Additionally, a little over 30,000 respondents were aged between 39-49 while the rest fell above the age of 49 and above. A fair estimation would be that the older one is the less likely they are to have access or the expertise to use mobile banking services.

Overall, the survey saw more male respondents than female respondents. This could possibly be due to the fact that men could likely be more in charge of the finances within their families.

Almost half the respondents already have a neobank account

Over 46% Already Hold a Neobank Account

The survey also confirms that out of the total 200,000 respondents, 46.2% (97,627) said that they already own a neobank account. While 53.8% said that they do not. Out of the majority that answered ‘Yes, the highest number of respondents hailed from India with 109,434 (54.72%). This was followed closely by Bangladesh with 46,203 (23.10%) and the USA with 12,530 (6.27%).

Of the respondents who said ‘Yes, 83,605 were male and 14,020 were female. This could possibly be due to the fact that men are more encouraged to find work than women. Hence, men must find their own way to manage their finances. While women who are working could possibly have their assets stored with accounts linked to other family members.

When asked what reasons influenced them to choose a neobank over a traditional bank, the answer to that was mostly dominated by two options. The reputation and excellent service offered by the neobank got the highest response with 65,789 (32.89%) votes. While the second-highest reason went to its easy application process with 65,491 (32.75%).

The 29-39 age group was most satisfied by neobanks’ reputation and excellent services. In contrast, the 19-29 age group was more content with the easy application process.

Respondents say neobanks offer a more enhanced customer experience

Overall, (60.15%) of the respondents said that they believe neobanks provide a more pleasant customer experience compared to a traditional bank. Mobile banking is open 24/7 and can cater to its users at any time and in any location. Traditional banks are only available at certain times and only in their physical location thus making it hard for them to offer a full-fledged customer experience.

Neobanks Offer Greater Customer Experience with 24/7 Services

24/7 banking makes neobanks a more attractive option

From the data, we can conclude that the most important factor that leads to users adopting neobank accounts over traditional ones would be the neobanks’ ability to provide 24/7 banking access to their users. A total of 87,681 (43.84%) said that they consider 24/7 access to banking as the main benefit of having a neobank account.

This was then followed by 87,681 (29.65%) respondents choosing simplified onboarding processes as the next main benefit. They feel the ability to open accounts seamlessly through a mobile portal and so forth is an important advantage with neobanks. This option was most popular with the 19-29 age group.

27,680 (13.84%) respondents considered a user-friendly platform as the third most important benefit. With neobanks, users have a portal on their mobile phone where they can find everything they need at the swipe of their fingers. A single tap showcases all their options allowing easy connectivity with banking support and flawless communication thanks to 24/7 services.

Unlike with traditional banks where users must physically travel to the bank, wait to be attended only to find out that the help they seek is at a different branch or off on vacation. Even something as trivial as a busted printer could trigger a bad customer experience. Therefore, neobanks offer a much attractive array of offers with its speedy and efficient user-friendly app.

Younger Millennials & Gen Z Fulfill Their Banking Needs With Neobanks

Neobanks are most frequently used to transfer funds

When asked about the type of transactions mostly conducted by neobank users, a great deal of the respondents chose fund transfer. It received a total of 58,440 (29.6%) votes. The second most frequent answer went to bill payment. It carries 50,174 (25.4%) of the total votes.

It seems most users tend to lean towards neobanks for especially the simplest most basic banking needs. Of course, transferring a few funds to many people sounds simpler through a mobile phone than visiting a physical bank. Neobanks eliminate the need to interact with another human to accomplish simple tasks.

With a simple push of a button, users can pay all their bills and transfer funds in one shot without having to rely on the help and presence of another party. The platform provided by neobanks simplifies any and all possible needs one would expect to have at a physical bank, only much faster and more private.

With 37,475 (19.0%) votes, international remittance took third place. Followed by savings with 30,071 (15.2%) votes. Thus, leaving 21,460 (10.9%) respondents who picked others as their primary use on their neobank accounts.

It is interesting to note that the age group of 19-29 has been the highest pick with all five options. This age group seems to be the one that is using neobanks to process the majority of all their banking needs. Possibly due to the fact that younger generations are more comfortable relying on technology, to handle their financial matters than strangers behind a desk. They are well versed in the art of mobile technology and have clearly proven their faith in their devices.

Respondents perceive Neobanks as mostly safe

Neobanks Are Worth Using

As for the respondents’ view on the safety of using neobanks, our survey reveals that while the majority of the respondents see neobanking as a safe option, some still think that it is unsafe. Only 64,806 (32.8%) perceive neobanking as a very safe option.

On the other hand, 43,535 (22.0%) said they find neobanks somewhat safe while 27.1% (53,528) chose to stay neutral.

This leaves 11.4% (22,431) finding neobanks somewhat unsafe and 6.7% (13,320) finding them very unsafe. This could possibly be due to a lack of knowledge about the technicalities behind the services. It could also be the fear of trying out something new or a general lack of trust in the unfamiliar.

Most respondents say they will recommend neobanks to others

Hence, it seems although most respondents aren’t completely certain about the safety of neobanks, they will still recommend its services to others.

Over half of the respondents picked ‘Yes’, which is a total of 103,814 (52.5%) responses while 44,739 (22.6%) responses said ‘No.’ The second highest responses went with a neutral option. This is possibly due to the absence of prior experience with neobanking so far.

Conclusion

From the collected data we can conclude that the public is quite aware of neobanks and their services. Moreover, out of the 200,000 respondents, most have a positive view of the digital banking options that come with neobanking. While almost half of the respondents already hold a neobank account, some are still skeptical about the safety of their assets.

However, it is important to note that neobanks are considered an excellent option for those seeking 24/7 banking services. Most respondents on this survey use neobanks to process a majority of their banking needs, especially those between the 19-29 age group. They also rate better in enhanced customer experience compared to traditional banking.

Methodology

Survey TitleNeobank Awareness Survey
DurationDecember 11-20, 2020
Number of Participants200,000
DemographicsMales and females, aged 19 to 60+
Participating Countries
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, American Samoa, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antarctica, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritania, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar [Burma], Nepal, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, SaudiArabia, Senegal, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Sweden, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe