Travelex reveals nearly 60 per cent of UK consumers want a marketplace from their bank as finance fatigue kicks in

Here’s why

Travelex Currency Solutions today released the findings from its new report The Race to Re-bundle the Bank. It revealed that UK consumers have increased the total number of money-related accounts they hold, with more fintech and challenger bank accounts added than those from traditional banks. Consumers are effectively ‘unbundling’ their traditional bank into disparate services from multiple alternative providers. However, consumers – especially millennials – have become frustrated with managing numerous accounts, and are looking to their incumbent bank to consolidate them into a single marketplace. 

Banks have been unbundled 

The research, based on responses from 1,000 UK consumers, clearly shows an increasingly loyalty-averse public accruing money-related accounts that cater for discrete financial needs.

The average number of money-related accounts held by consumers has increased markedly over the last 10 years.The number of fintech providers used has increased by over 50 per cent, with e-wallets (80 per cent) and international money transfer accounts (29 per cent) showing the biggest gains. In contrast, traditional banks have only seen an increase of 11 per cent.

Younger consumers in particular have more diverse financial lives. Nearly a quarter of respondents under 36 have three fintech accounts or more.

Historically, consumers turned to their incumbent bank for a range of services. With unbundling consumers are increasingly enlisting a plethora of alternative providers to meet their financial needs, even if their bank has a similar offering.