Technology and Banking Methods Findings

Access to the Internet, Mobile Phones and Smartphones by Banking Status

Relative to fully banked households, underbanked households were somewhat more likely to have had access to a mobile phone or smartphone. In contrast, unbanked households were considerably less likely to have had access to either a mobile phone or a smartphone.

Access to Mobile Phones and Smartphones by Age

Mobilephone and smartphone access differed by age. Older households had lower rates of access to mobile phones and considerably lower rates of access to smartphones compared with younger households.

All Methods Used to Access Bank Accounts

The majority of underbanked and fully banked households had used bank tellers, ATMs/kiosks and online banking at least once in the last 12 months.

Households that did not access their accounts in the last 12 months and households for which we do not know their bank account access in the last 12 months are excluded from these results.

Main Method Used to Access Bank Accounts

Compared with fully banked households, lower proportions of underbanked households used online banking as their main method and higher proportions of underbanked households used mobile banking as their main method.

Households that did not access their accounts in the last 12 months and households for which we do not know their bank account access in the last 12 months are excluded from these results.

Selected Main Methods Used to Access Bank Accounts by Income

Compared with higher income households, lower income households were more likely to primarily use bank tellers and less likely to primarily use online banking.

Households that did not access their accounts in the last 12 months and households for which we do not know their bank account access in the last 12 months are excluded from these results.

Selected Main Methods Used to Access Bank Accounts by Age

Considerably higher proportions of households age 45 and above primarily used a bank teller compared with younger households. The opposite was true for the use of mobile banking as a main method.

Households that did not access their accounts in the last 12 months and households for which we do not know their bank account access in the last 12 months are excluded from these results.

Selected Main Banking Methods Used to Access Bank Accounts by Race/Ethinicity

Black and Hispanic households were significantly less likkely to use online banking as their primary method compared with non-Black non-Hispanic White households.

Households that did not access their accounts in the last 12 months and households for which we do not know their bank account access in the last 12 months are excluded from these results.

Median Number of Methods Used to Access Bank Accounts by Household's Main Method

Most households that primarily used bank tellers used them as their only method of accessing their accounts. Most households that primarily used mobile banking also used 3 additional medthos to access their accounts.

Households that did not access their accounts in the last 12 months and households for which we do not know their bank account access in the last 12 months are excluded from these results.

Use of Mobile Banking by Age

More than 1 in 3 households aged 34 and under had used mobile banking to access their accounts in the last 12 months compared with 1 in 5 households aged 45 to 54 and 1 in 8 households aged 55 to 64.

Households that did not access their accounts in the last 12 months and households for which we do not know their bank account access in the last 12 months are excluded from these results.

Main Method Used to Access Bank Accounts for Households that Used Mobile Banking in Last 12 Months

Among households that used mobile banking in the last 12 months, underbanked households were considerably less likely to use online banking as their primary method and more likely to use mobile banking as their primary method compared with fully banked households.

Households that did not access their accounts in the last 12 months and households for which we do not know their bank account access in the last 12 months are excluded from these results.

Types of Mobile Banking Activity by Banking Status

Monitoring bank account balances and recent transactions were the most commonly conducted mobile banking activities. Underbanked households were somewhat more likely to receive text message alerts than fully banked households.

Households that did not access their accounts in the last 12 months and households for which we do not know their bank account access in the last 12 months are excluded from these results.