20% of Consumers Are Very Interested in Switching Banks for an Open Banking Platform

Consumers crave the banking convenience provided by third-party portals and apps that offer connections between bank accounts and merchants. 

Today, 30% of consumers are “very” or “extremely” interested in using open banking portals from their banks, according to “Sharing Bank Account Credentials With Third Parties: Convenience Versus Security,” a PYMNTS and MX collaboration. 

Get the study: Sharing Bank Account Credentials With Third Parties: Convenience vs. Security 

These consumers are interested in several use cases for third-party banking apps. Forty-eight percent want notifications when there is activity in the app, 45% want apps to let them track transactions and 43% say the apps should provide speedy service.

Interest in open banking is not uniform among all consumers, however. Millennials and bridge millennials are most interested in accessing a personal bank-offered open banking portal. For the most part, the younger the consumer, the more likely they are to be interested. The one exception to that is the youngest generation, Gen Z. 

The percentage of consumers in each age group who say they are “very” or “extremely” interested in open banking services are as follows: 2% of baby boomers and seniors, 33% of Generation X, 45% of bridge millennials, 47% of millennials and 37% of Generation Z. 

Offering access to such portals can help sway customers away from their current banks. Twenty percent of consumers are “very” or “extremely” interested in switching their accounts over to banks that offer such portals. Here, too, Gen Z is the one exception to a rule that the younger the consumer, the more likely they are to be interested. 

The percentage of consumers in each age group who say they are “very” or “extremely” interested in switching banks if offered an open banking platform are as follows: 6% of baby boomers and seniors, 22% of Generation X, 31% of bridge millennials, 36% of millennials and 24% of Generation Z.