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'OMG' more 'peeps' go online to bank than to use Facebook

10th October 2011 Print

More people bank online (77%) than log on to Facebook and Twitter and other social media (58%), according to research from Nationwide Building Society.

In fact, shopping (77%) and online banking jointly topped Nationwide's research into what consumers do online.

The TOP reasons people go online are:

Banking (77%)
Shopping (77%)
Looking for holidays (65%)
Social media (58%)
Using auction sites such as eBay (53%)
Job searching (37%)
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 Nationwide's new and improved internet bank, which aims to make online banking easier and faster than ever before.

Nationwide's new internet bank will begin to be made available to customers from October.  Existing members and customers who bank online with the Society will benefit from a number of features, including:

New calendar view of transactions; which means members can see more easily money coming in and going out

Easy to understand graphs; which compare income against spending and track account balances
Clear and simple statement view
Improved sorting and filtering of statements
Quick and easy process for setting up payments and step by step guide
Quick links to popular transactions
Improved help and support for when members need it
A modern, fresh design

The online bank will be available via nationwide.co.uk.