Bricks and mortar don’t mean as much to millennials, according to a new report by Accenture. 4000 retail bank customers in Canada and the United States were surveyed about their banking preferences and the results show that almost 40% of customers aged 18-34 would consider switching to a branchless bank. For those aged 35-55, only 29% said they would feel comfortable with the switch. For those over 55- only 16% would consider an online-only bank. That may not come as much of a surprise, especially given the rise of online-only banks in recent years. One of the more interesting results of the survey was about the willingness to have tech companies handle financial services. Amongst those 18-34, 72% said that they would be “likely” or “very likely” to bank with at least one technology, telecom or shipping company if that company offered financial services. 40% said they would consider banking with Google, 37% said Amazon and 34% said they would consider having Apple handle their finances. The generational difference is obvious. Those numbers drop sharply when the same question was posed to the 55 plus group, where only 27% said they would consider making the switch. Wayne Busch, managing director of Accenture’s North America banking practice says: "Tomorrow's consumer is coming of age with a very different perception of what a bank could be”
