Summary
Publication Date: January 2016
The way we manage our money has been transformed by technology. We have a growing range of ways to spend our money, from traditional cash through contactless cards to wristbands, watches and our smartphones. And through this mobile technology, we’re increasingly able to communicate with our banks on the go. This growing choice in how consumers interact with their financial services providers is strengthening competition, but has also made it difficult for some banks to sustain the costs of high street branches, leading to consolidation and closures.
But, in financial services as in other markets, we continue to rely on a mix of ‘bricks’ – physical buildings – and ‘clicks’ – online and mobile communications. This report considers how we manage our money; how this has changed; and what financial services are likely to look like in future. We examine how far we have moved towards managing our finances online, and ask whether there’s a continued role for physical financial services. We focus on consumer financial services, though it is important to realise that this is only part of the story and access to physical financial services is also vital for many small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
