Less than one in five Americans opting for digital banking

The US is the world’s largest market for financial services but has not yet seen a huge uptake in digital banking, despite being the primary destination for fintech venture capital. 

Ambitious UK and European fintech firms looking for global expansion such as Monzo and Revolut have set their sights firmly on the US, but is there a current captive audience? 

Research from Sykes suggests a challenge. It recently polled 1800 consumers in America and found just 17 per cent plan to primarily bank with an online-only digital bank one year from now.

More than half (55 per cent) meanwhile said they had visited a bank in the past year.

Americans are not shy towards newer forms of finance, however. A quarter (25 per cent) said that they had moved funds from their primary bank's savings account into a cryptocurrency wallet since the start of the pandemic and just over a fifth (21 per cent) said they would consider replacing their primary bank account with cryptocurrency investments. 

In addition just under a quarter (23 per cent) said they would feel comfortable receiving personal finance advice based on their banking habits from a robot or automated system.