How are people banking now

How are people banking now?

Customers are choosing digital channels - including mobile banking - over any other way to bank, with just 8% of customers using a branch as the only way to manage their money.

If I asked you to cast your mind back to the 1980s, you might think perms, mix tapes and bright neon colours. If I asked you to think about banking in the 1980s, then you'd almost certainly think branch.

By rewinding that far back, we can see how far we've come. Through changes in customer behaviour, technology and innovation, today's banking experience is completely different compared to customers' experiences even a decade ago.

With half of UK adults banking with us we really understand what UK consumers want. With more customers choosing mobile as their preferred way to bank, we're undertaking one of the biggest transformations in financial services so we can bring the best of mobile banking to our customers.

Mobile banking

Most of our customers now choose mobile, digital or telephone banking as the main way to manage their money. We only need to go back to the 2000s to see the opposite - when mobile banking didn't exist and internet banking was in its infancy.

Nowadays mobile banking is the way customers prefer to bank. And we expect it to grow in the months and years ahead.

Of the 22 million customers banking with us online, over 20 million choose mobile banking, making us the UK's biggest mobile bank. Last year alone we saw around six billion logons to our mobile app and internet banking. By next year we expect this to be over seven billion logons - just shy of the world's population.

Breaking that down, that'll be 23 million of our customers logging on around 300 times a year - so almost every day. Only social media platforms see more engagement on their apps in the UK than we do.

And that's why we're investing in mobile with our refreshed apps: creating leading customer experiences.

"Of the 22 million customers banking with us online, over 20 million choose mobile banking."

Why are so many customers choosing mobile to manage their money?

At one time it would have been unimaginable to have access to all of your finances on a 7" screen, never mind from the comfort of your home, 24/7/365, anywhere in the world.

But that's exactly what we've brought to our customers. We've put the power of finance in people's hands: from paying in cheques, to seeing all your money in one place, right through to applying for finance - customers have complete control of their finances in ways that just weren't possible when relying solely on branches.

Technology has undoubtedly played a huge part but - above all - customers' preferences for ease, convenience and safety has made mobile banking the success it is. People now use their banking app just like they use their Amazon, Sainsbury's or Just Eat apps. That's good for customers and it's good for banking competition.

Mobile makes the customer experience more personalised too and alerts is just one of the ways we do that. By 2025, we're aiming to deliver around 10 billion alerts each year to customers.

An example that helped put more money in people's accounts was targeted notifications to customers letting them know about changes to savings rates. With a changing interest rate environment over the last 18 months, this really helped us reach customers in a way that traditional banking methods couldn't - and help make many customers better off.

How is Lloyds Banking Group driving innovation in mobile banking?

We're leading the way when it comes to mobile. At the heart of our strategy is a brilliant platform that brings together data, analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence. In other words, combining these capabilities means we can roll out the latest features and developments to customers - quickly.

We've developed a refreshed banking app, packed with features, that really empowers our customers to make the most of their finances. We've rolled this out to Lloyds customers first, and we'll be getting this into the hands of our Bank of Scotland and Halifax customers from early next year.

Alongside a new look and feel that improves the navigation and user experience, at the heart of the redesign are six 'spaces' - reflecting how people organise and see their finances, and how we can bring the best of Lloyds Banking Group together to support their goals.

The six spaces - Summary, Everyday, Save & Invest, Borrow, Homes, Insure - create a full financial ecosystem for customers to manage their money across all products.

And we're adding new features by the month. In the last two months alone we've brought three brilliant new services to our customers: Link Pay, Benefit Calculator and Bill Switcher, all of which help put more money in customers' pockets, from the device in their pocket.

"Only social media platforms see more engagement on their apps in the UK than we do."

But mobile-first doesn't mean mobile-only

We recognise the benefits of uniting digital and human banking so it creates the best experience for our customers.

Technology makes humans more human: the mobile app makes everyday banking easier, but our wonderful people will always be there when our customers need them. They have deeper conversations and demonstrate care when our customers have more complex needs. Our people are a huge asset.

That combination of digital and people is the winning formula. And we have a real range of ways to bank with us. That's what makes us unique, and brings greater flexibility to our customers.

Transformation through technology has meant we can be around at times that are more convenient for our customers and give everyone access to 'national teams'. Gone are the days of waiting on the local branch to open or queueing at peak times.

Video banking is a good example of increasing availability for customers. Today you can have an appointment with one of our mortgage advisers through video, in a branch, which speeds up the whole process. We're introducing more services to video banking as we learn from this new capability.

And flexibility extends beyond technology, too. Many years ago we introduced 'co-servicing' in our telephone banking teams - meaning our skilled colleagues could take calls from any of our customers, no matter which of our brands they banked with.

From next year we'll be taking the success of what we've seen in telephone banking, and bringing it to our branch network. All of our customers will be able to use any of our Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland branches. This gives our customers access to one of the UK's biggest branch networks.

Whether it's to speak with someone about banking online or to book an appointment with one of our relationship growth specialists, customers will be able to do this at any branch they choose, and one that's most convenient for them.

Alongside expanding the number of branches customers can use, they'll continue to benefit from all of our other services including digital and telephone banking, and our leading banking apps.

Tech and Transformation

A mobile future we're investing in

Mobile banking is the future; a future that's already present. We're making sure that anything a customer has ever been able to do online, over the phone or in branch, can be done on mobile - plus a whole lot more!

To make this happen we're investing in our digital channels to bring new innovations and industry-leading services, alongside new features for our apps. This all makes banking easier, better and safer.

Customers rightly expect a lot from us, and if we truly deliver our purpose of Helping Britain Prosper then a mobile-first approach to banking isn't only our opportunity to help meet more customers' financial needs - it's our responsibility.

This article was originally published in January 2024.

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