The major banks dominate the student group – as in the population at large and cash payment is almost forgotten. They are for the most part replaced by digital payment in mobile or watch. That is, in a few sentences, a summary of the survey on banks and payment that we have done among Mecenat students.
The four major banks that dominates the general population, also have a firm grip on the student group when we ask which bank the students prefer to use. A total of 80 percent state in descending order that they use Swedbank, Nordea, Handelsbanken or SEB as their primary bank.
When we ask if they are satisfied with their choice of bank, the result is overwhelming, to say the least. As many as 95 per cent state that they are satisfied, and only 25 per cent that they have ever changed bank.
This is fully in line with the answers to the corresponding questions we asked in our survey two years ago. The same four banks were at the top of the ranking, and they gathered almost an equal share of the students. Those who stated that they were satisfied with their bank were, however, “only” at 90 percent, so the proportion satisfied has increased by five percentage points.
When we move on to asking more directly about how they handle their money, debit cards are by far the most common way when they are paying. On the decimal point, 50 percent state that they use a debit card. Just over 30 percent prefer to use Swish (a mobile app developed by Swedish banks to quickly pay and receive money) while only 9 percent of the students who participated in the survey pay with a credit card.
And this survey once again confirms that students are quick to adopt new technology. More than half of the students states that they have a digital version of their debit or credit card in their mobile phone or watch that they use to pay with.
Cash, on the other hand, seems soon to be part of history. Only 4 percent use cash daily while as many as 48 percent state that they never use cash or don’t remember when they last did. The rest of the responding students use cash more or less sporadically.
An occasion when a lot of people change banks is when they have to take a loan to buy a home. The choice then obviously depends on what terms and interest rates they are offered. Here the banks have a job to do to prove that they are the best choice among the students. Only 12 percent of students have a bank loan today, while 36 percent state that they plan to take one within the next five years.
The surveys have 802 respondents. The recipients are randomly selected from Mecenat’s users, and the results are weighted by gender and age compared to the total Swedish student population.
