• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer, April 5, 2006

The 2006 Market Pulse Survey, released by IBT Enterprises and MCA Works, reveals that when it comes to financial services the "human touch" still matters to a great number of consumers. Despite decades of predictions that technology-driven channels like ATMs and online banking would replace traditional banks, 50 percent prefer to bank face-to-face in a branch or drive through. Thirty percent of those surveyed prefer to bank online, 18 percent opt for ATMs and 2 percent say mail or telephone.

76 percent of Americans "love" or "don't mind" going inside the branch to conduct business. Face-to-face interaction is preferred for more complex transactions:

• 69 percent prefer face-to-face for making a deposit
• 65 percent to apply for a loan
• 64 percent for opening a new account

ATM, online and telephone banking was most popular for:

• Paying bills (64 percent),
• Cash withdrawal (56 percent)  
• Transferring funds (54 percent)

Mylle Mangum, CEO of IBT, said "By offering a robust and integrated channel of banking methods, financial institutions are in a better position to solidify their relationships with consumers. Moreover, the delivery channels should match the consumer's life stage/life cycle needs. For instance, drive-through windows are extremely important to families with children."

When asked about promotions to switch to another financial institution:

41 percent of U.S. adults said that "no amount of money or promotion could ever get me to switch."

• 33 percent said they would switch if offered a $250 gift card and
• 20 percent said they would switch for 1 percent difference in their interest rate for deposits.
• 5 percent said they would switch financial institutions for an iPod
• one percent report they would switch to a new financial institution in order to receive a new toaster. 

Some other findings on the uses of financial institutions include:

• 97 percent of respondents use a checking account. Seventy-eight percent use a savings account and nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults have a credit card issued to them from a financial institution
• 47 percent have loan debt, either auto, home or school loan
• 72 percent of U.S. adults would look to their primary financial institution if they needed a business loan, 69 percent for home loan, 69 percent for home refinancing, 49 percent for a car loan
• Forty-seven percent of U.S. adults reported using investment products such as stocks, bonds, CDs, mutual funds and retirement accounts and 18 percent have a safety deposit box.

When asked about unexpectedly coming into a large sum of money ($250,000), 25 percent of U.S. adults said the first person they would call would be an accountant, 19 percent said a family member, 12 percent a banker, 10 percent stock broker, six percent friend and 1 percent a real estate broker. Interestingly, 27 percent of those surveyed said they would not call any of these individuals for financial advice.

The 2006 IBT/MCA Market Pulse Survey is based on an online survey among a nationwide sample of U.S. adults that have an account at a financial institution such as retail banks, credit unions, savings and loan and financial securities firms.

To download the survey, please use this link.

For the complete release, go here.