Singaporeans still keen on ATMs, branch banking: study

3 in 4 Singaporeans still frequently use ATMs.

The proliferation of mobile banking does not equate to the death of ATM machines or branch banking, a study found, with Singaporeans likely open to using all three.

Close to 9 in 10 Singaporeans, or 88% of 2,000 Singaporean respondents, use mobile banking platforms “several times a month, according to the inaugural national survey on digital inclusion and resilience conducted by Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP) in partnership with UOB. 
 
Meanwhile, 3 in 4 respondents said that they visit the ATM several times a month, with 15% of these saying they use an ATM daily; whilst 1 in 4 visit a bank branch over the same period, with 17% saying that they visit a branch daily.

Respondents who frequent ATMs and bank branches are not resistant to adopting mobile banking but in fact have the highest intention to use mobile banking, the study found.

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“Individuals who use ATMs and visit bank branches frequently have expressed a strong desire to adopt digital banking but have not done so. This is the segment that banks need to focus their efforts on. Trust ranks first among key considerations on whether customers will adopt digital banking,” said Dr. Reuben Ng, assistant professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and Principal Investigator for the national study.

Those who use ATMs more than once a day scored a 5.8 on intention to adopt mobile banking out of 6, with 6 being the highest intention to adopt mobile banking. Meanwhile, those who visit ATMs daily scored 5.4.

Frequent bank branch visitors scored 5.6, the same as customers who never visit a bank branch–indicating that there are distinct population segments keen on banking digitalisation, the study noted.