10.05.2024
In recent years, increasingly more people in Estonia have started to use mobile banking apps to make payments, while the use of internet banking is in decline.
In January, LHV and Kantar Emor conducted a survey to find out which channels Estonian residents prefer for managing their finances and making settlements. 59% of Estonians prefer to use the internet bank, while 36% use their bank’s mobile app to manage their finances.
The use of a mobile app for banking has increased in recent years: while in 2020, it was the preferred channel for 28% of the Estonian population, the usage rate has now increased by eight percentage points. The most avid user of the mobile app is the younger age group: 87% of 18–24-year-olds use it as the preferred channel for settlements. The mobile banking app is also popular among 25–34-year-olds, where 51% of people prefer it.
At the same time, people’s preference for using the internet bank has declined in recent years: in 2020, 67% of Estonian people preferred to use the internet bank for their financial matters, compared to 59% in the January of the current year. The internet bank is strongly favoured by the age group of 65–74-year-olds, with 91% of them using this channel for their settlements. Similarly, 73% of people aged 50–64 in Estonia prefer the internet bank.
According to Annika Goroško, Head of Retail Banking at LHV, these statistics reflect a broader shift in society. ‘Only ten years ago, it was common to have to open a computer to conduct digital operations. But nowadays, people’s habits have changed, the pace of life is fast, and most of us prefer to do our daily tasks comfortably on our mobile devices. That is exactly why banks are also paying a lot of attention to developing mobile apps and improving their functionality, to make it as convenient as possible for people to manage their finances. We can predict that the current trend will continue to grow and that the mobile app will soon win the favour of even more clients,’ said Goroško.
The survey also looked at the channel through which people prefer to communicate with their main bank. The survey found that 47% of people in Estonia prefer to communicate with their bank by e-mail, 44% by phone, and 29% prefer to come to a bank office for direct communication.
The survey was conducted by Kantar Emor on behalf of LHV. A total of 1093 people responded to the survey.
LHV Group is the largest domestic financial group and capital provider in Estonia. LHV Group’s key subsidiaries are LHV Pank, LHV Varahaldus, LHV Kindlustus, and LHV Bank Limited. LHV employs more than 1090 people. As at the end of March, LHV’s banking services are being used by 428,000 clients, the pension funds managed by LHV have 120,000 active clients, and LHV Kindlustus is protecting a total of 164,000 clients. LHV Bank, a subsidiary of LHV Group, holds a banking licence in the UK and provides banking services to international financial technology companies, as well as loans to small and medium-sized enterprises.
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