New research from Nationwide Building Society reveals that more people bank online (77%) than log on to Facebook and Twitter and other social media (58%). In fact, shopping (77%) and online banking jointly topped Nationwide’s research into what consumers do online.
Here are the top reasons that people go online, according to Nationwide’s survey of 1,500 UK respondents:
- Banking (77%)
- Shopping (77%)
- Looking for holidays (65%)
- Social media (58%)
- Using auction sites such as eBay (53%)
- Downloading movies/music (36%)
The research also showed some interesting comparison between the sexes. Stereotypes would normally have people believe women shop and men handle the finances, whilst this research shows that men are actually going online to bank only a marginal amount more, with a difference of three percentage points (79% vs 76%). Similarly, women only out-shop their male counterparts by four percentage points (79% vs 75%).
Richard Searle, Nationwide’s head of channel integration, said:
“Online banking has really taken off over the last few years and that is something we have been very aware of with the launch of our new and improved internet bank, but I have to say even we were surprised to see it beat social media (e.g. Facebook) as one of the top reasons the nation goes online.
“This research has been interesting as it has bucked a few trends showing women and men have very similar online habits – online banking, shopping, looking for holidays and social media. It has also shown the amount we now all use online banking as part of our day-to-day lives, with a quarter (25%) of us going online 2-4 times a week and 12% going online once a day, and this is only likely to grow as technology evolves and tablet computers are made more affordable.”
Nationwide’s research coincides with the launch of their recent changes to their internet bank website, which aims to make online banking easier and faster for customers.
Nationwide’s new internet bank will begin to be made available to customers from October.
For a different view of internet habits, take a look at the following pie chart compiled by Hitwise, which shows internet usage in the UK if it were condensed into a single hour.
