A Study of Older People’s Attitudes Towards Digital Banking

This study explored older people’s opinions of digital banking (online and mobile) and the risks they perceived in relation to these services. A total of 20 older users were recruited for a short interview to explore their views on different banking services. While most of the participants were interested in digital banking services, they expressed concerns about the security risks of using them. However, the involvement of friends or relatives were found could mitigate these negative perceptions. Following this, prototype user interfaces for a mobile banking app and an online web-based banking service were developed to explore whether experience of digital banking affected their feelings towards them. Each prototype was tested by 6 older users under two conditions, one using the service on their own and the other with simulated online help from another person. The experience of the participants with the prototypes raised interest in adopting digital banking services. It was found that when assisted by a friend or relative, the perceived risks were reduced.