Even before consumers had felt the full effects of the coronavirus pandemic and economic shutdown, customers across generations considered easy-to-use online banking an important factor when looking for a new banking relationship, according to a survey by Boston-based Aite Group.

Most Millennials and members of Generation X considered easy-to-use online tools important on some level, with 44 percent of young Millennials, 48 percent of older Millennials and 45 percent of Gen Xers considering them very important, according to “Attracting and Retaining the Digital First Customer,” a report on the survey by Aite Group analyst Tiffani Montez.

The online survey was conducted during the first quarter and involved more than 2,400 adults age 24 and older.

More than half of those surveyed used a national bank as their primary financial services provider, while 16 percent used a regional bank, another 16 percent used a credit union, 12 percent used a community bank and 2 percent did not have a bank.

Only 6 percent each of Baby Boomers and seniors had switched banks in the past 24 months, while 32 percent of young Millennials, 28 percent of older Millennials and 21 percent of Gen Xers had switched to a new provider.

The top reasons for switching providers were to get better interest rates, poor customer service and to have no monthly fees.

Another reason cited by 28 percent of older Millennials and 29 percent of Gen Xers was that the online or mobile banking experience at the previous provider was not user friendly.

When asked what factors they would consider if selecting a new provider, most young and older Millennials and Gen Xers said flexible online payment options and robust online capabilities held some level of importance. Only 11 percent of Boomers and 23 percent of seniors said these factors were not at all important.

Flexible mobile payment options were also important to most young and older Millennials and about 90 percent of Gen Xers. For one-third of Baby Boomers and 53 percent of seniors, mobile payment options were not at all important.

“As [financial institutions] continue to navigate the new normal in banking – digital-first banking – the need to meet the rising expectations for creating a digital experience that allows customers to reduce their reliance on the branch and contact center will become more and more important,” Montez wrote in her report.

Even while showing the importance of online and mobile tools, branch and ATM locations still held significance for these survey respondents. Almost all respondents considered branch locations to have some level of importance, with 51 percent of older Millennials citing branch locations as very important, more than any other demographic.

Convenient ATM locations were very important to more than half of young and older Millennials, 49 percent of Gen Xers and 40 percent of Baby Boomers. For seniors, 28 percent responded that ATM locations were not important at all.

“Aite Group expects that consumer reliance on physical distribution points will lessen over time and, as a result, will force many FIs to recalibrate their branch network,” Montez said, noting that the metrics on branch and ATM locations were gathered before the pandemic.