British consumers to prefer platform banking, study

The study is called ‘Platform banking: Customers’ changing expectations and desire for financial simplicity’ and it examines how the savings account market will be a key battleground between large incumbent banks and challengers for customers in coming years. According to the research, over half (56%) of British consumers say that they would like to have as few different financial services providers as possible. However, despite this desire for financial simplicity, the average number of bank accounts per person in the UK has risen from 2.5 in 2014 to 2.8 in 2020, with the country now possessing a total of 156 million bank accounts.  British consumers now have the most bank accounts in Europe on average – by comparison, Germans have 2.0 bank accounts per person, the Spanish have 1.7, the French 1.4, and Italians 0.9.

The research suggests that the market could be ripe for the consolidation of UK consumers’ bank accounts under the umbrella of one provider. When asked, more than half (52%) of UK consumers said that they liked the idea of their primary bank or financial services provider acting as a marketplace and offering them products from other financial services providers, according to the official press release.