Almost half of Brits with a digital-only bank account keep £1000 or less in them

Currently, 12 percent of Brits with a digital-only account say that they have closed their traditional bank account and gone fully digital

The average amount held in a digital-only bank account is £3,214

Despite the increasing numbers of Brits turning to digital-only banks, new research by personal finance comparison site finder.com has revealed that almost half (47%) of these accounts have less than £1,000 in them.

Furthermore, three in 10 of the accounts (30%) have just £100 or less in them. Across all digital-only accounts, the average amount held is £3,214.

Of those who have opened a digital-only account, 12 percent say they have closed their conventional bank accounts and taken their banking fully online. A further 38 percent say they will keep their traditional bank account as their primary one for the time being, keeping the digital-only bank accounts for things like travelling and their money tracking features.

However, almost two thirds (63%) of those who plan to open a digital-only bank account say that they eventually plan to use it as their main account – meaning they would have their wages paid in and direct debits taken out of them.

The region that appears most committed to new banking technology is Wales, where 78 percent of people with digital-only bank accounts say they have, or plan to, use this as their main account. At the other end of the scale, 54 percent of East Anglians with these accounts plan to make them their primary ones.

Men are putting substantially more money into their digital-only bank accounts. On average, they have £3,649 held in them compared to £2,717 for women. Slightly higher numbers of men are fully committing to these accounts as well, with 13 percent closing their traditional bank accounts as opposed to 11 percent of females.

Previous research from finder found that a quarter (24%) of Brits will have an account with a digital-only bank within the next five years, with one in ten (9%) saying they already have one.

To see more digital banking usage statistics, gender and regional breakdowns of the research including an interactive map, visit: https://www.finder.com/uk/digital-bank-usage

Commenting on the findings, Jon Ostler, CEO at finder.com said: “Technology has enabled digital-only banks and personal finance apps to offer some amazing features like spending analytics, automatically investing your spare change and safety features such as being able to instantly freeze and unfreeze your card.

“However our research shows that consumers are still hesitant about putting significant amounts of money in these accounts, and making them their primary ones. Although there are signs that this  scepticism will soften over time as the technology and brands becomes more well known, but it’s clear that fintech challengers also have a way to go in convincing consumers that they are a safe, long term option for their money.”