Banking used to mean, literally, going to the bank – to the building that housed the loan officers, tellers, advisers, and other financial services personnel. Managing our finances meant meeting all those professionals on-site and in person. Online finance has changed all that.
Now, most financial transactions happen via mobile apps, websites, email, text messages, and other digital communications. More than 4,000 bank branches have closed in the U.K. in the last six years alone. Some experts1 predict that physical bank branches could become extinct in the U.S. by 2034. And use of physical currency is also dropping: According to Pew Research2 , more than onethird of adults under age 50 report making no cash purchases in a typical week. We now frequently deposit or withdraw money, apply for loans, make insurance claims, and engage in other financial transactions without ever seeing another person. We live in a world of digital commerce.
