RSS Feed

Related Articles

Related Categories

Christmas Day - A time for presents, turkey and online banking

22nd December 2014 Print

Christmas day is all about spending time with family and enjoying festive food and fun. But for many, it’s also about checking their finances, with stats revealing a third (32%) of Internet and mobile bank customers logged in on 25th December last year.

Around 240,000 people checked their accounts on Christmas Day 2013, representing an increase of 140 per cent on figures recorded for 25th December 2012 (100,000). However, despite the surge, one Christmas Day tradition held true as all but 4,000 customers logged off by 3pm, in time for the Queen’s Speech. This daytime low was close to half the 7,800 logins recorded at 10am – the time of highest recorded usage. Interestingly, despite the significant increase in those logging on, both 2013 and 2012 saw broadly the same number of people checking their accounts at 3pm.

With Nationwide both reporting a notable rise in its share of the current account market and statistics showing that mobile logins have for the first time overtaken Internet logins this year, an even greater proportion of its customers are expected to check their finances from the comfort of their homes this Christmas. And with a range of new banking services, such as Nationwide’s Quick Balance, which allows users to check their balance at the press of a button, and Impulse Saver, an application enabling customers to quickly save small amount of money without signing in, banking has never been more convenient.

By comparison, New Year’s Eve last year was far busier than Christmas Day, with around 723,000 people using Nationwide’s Internet and mobile banking options – an increase of more than 200 per cent compared to 25th December 2013. This is likely down to people checking their bank accounts before seeing in the New Year. Nearly 3,000 people were even logged on at midnight on New Year’s Eve – a time when most people were ushering in 2014.

Combined logons on New Year’s Day this year were down to 567,000 as people slowly but steadily checked just how much they had spent the night before.

Phil Smith, Nationwide’s Head of Current Accounts, said: “Christmas and New Year can be an expensive time for families so it’s no wonder that once the presents are open, people are checking just how much it’s cost them. However, some Christmas traditions remain strong, with most people logging off by 3pm, just in time to sit down and watch the Queen give her annual yuletide address.

“Equally, with more and more sales starting on Christmas day now, people may also be checking how much money they have left before they start spending some more.

“It’s also interesting to note the drop in usage on New Year’s Day compared to New Year’s Eve, as people’s default mode is to perhaps relax rather than worry about the night before – at least until having that bacon sandwich!”