A survey conducted by Poll&Roll for the online comparator Panorabanques among a representative sample of the population estimates that only 4% of French people have competed and left their bank in favor of another establishment since the entry into force in 2017 of the law on banking mobility.
This system, which requires banks to take care of the transfer of operations and the closing of the old bank account of their new client, is only used by a little more than a third of those who have changed institution.
More than four out of ten French people are customers of several banks
In fact, many account openings do not lead to the closing of another: more than four out of ten people are multi-banked, i.e. they have several accounts in at least two different banks.
Thus, more than 4 out of ten French people whose main bank is a traditional player have one or more other accounts elsewhere, and nearly 7 out of ten people hosting their main account with an online establishment are also customers of other banking establishments.
Traditional establishments host most of the “main” accounts
Despite growing competition from online players, the vast majority of French people remain loyal to traditional banks for their main account. Only 6% are in an online bank as their main bank, and 1% in a neobank.
Unsurprisingly, the choice of an online bank is mainly linked to cheaper rates (68%), the welcome bonus and the fact of having a second bank card being the two other reasons cited by respondents (for respectively 43% and 28% of the French).
The “free” offers of online players, in particular, which make it possible to have an account and a payment card free of charge and to obtain more advantageous conditions for certain services – such as the fees applied to payments or withdrawals at abroad – attract consumers.
But many of them keep their “historical” bank at the same time, with which they have current loans (particularly real estate), passbooks or other investment vehicles (PEA, PER, life insurance), a set of services that does not yet find its equivalent among online players.