Apple, Amazon and Google are fueling young Brits appetite for new quantum leaps in secure banking products and services, reveals new study.
More than half (51%) of UK consumers surveyed, under 45 years old say they would be interested in banking offerings from the techno-behemoths, with 45% of those revealing their yearning for loans, credit cards or current account from these companies on the basis of an improved value than their existing bank, find new figures from an online survey by Gorkana which questioned 2,002 UK adults.
Across all age groups, the level of interest of banking products from Apple, Amazon and Google falls to 40%-emphasising a clear favouritism of the leading techno-firms generation X and Z possesses. Besides, more than quarter (27%) of this age cohort state they would instead devote their loyalty to their existing bank due to an established familiarity with them.
“The recent announcement that Apple is joining forces with Goldman Sachs to launch a consumer credit card highlights how tech companies plan to shake up the banking industry, creating products and services to compete against the big high street banking names as well as newer digital entrants, comments Jake Ranson, banking and financial institution expert and the chief marketing director at Equifax Ltd.
“Although a sense of brand familiarity pins many people to their current bank, there’s an appetite for new products and a desire for alternatives that can offer something genuinely different. The tech giants have a loyal brand following in their own right, if they can combine this with a competitive product offering we’ll see an interesting shift in dynamics as the fight to attract customers heats up.”
The move chimes with the introduction of the second European Payment Services Directive (PSD2) which came into force in January this year and opens up the once closed world of banking to all comers. The move will make it more likely than ever that the likes of Amazon, Apple and Google will seek to tap their halo effects to join up the marketing, sales and finance side of their businesses.
Apple already has made forays into payments with Apple Pay, as has Google. Amazon has also been long tipped to enter the payments world, extending it one-click payments tool to third parties and, more recently, in talks to work with JP Morgan Chase and Capital One to create a checking account like product for its customers, according to The Wall Street Journal.
This makes perfect sense as there are a lot of young, unbanked people out there that already use Amazon and who want to do things differently. In fact, many of Amazon’s regular customers seem to agree: global research from Accenture reveals half of all Amazon users would consider a savings account with Amazon, and 45% are open to the idea of it being their primary bank account.
Amazon already loans money to retailers – currently totalling well over $1.5bn to merchants in the US, UK, Europe and Japan. And it also already has its own UK credit card: the Amazon Platinum Mastercard, which gives reward points whenever users shop on it.
Industry analysts are already getting excited about the prospects for an Amazon bank. Amazon could become the third-biggest US bank if it wants to, according to a Bain & Company report. I certainly wouldn’t bank on Amazon not having a significant online banking presence in the next five years.
