One million Australians not served by banks

A new study by Datamonitor finds more than one million Australian consumers are not being served by traditional banking providers. The study found that 5% of consumers said they would not go to traditional institutions to handle their money matters.

“Since the onset of the financial crisis two years ago, consumers are now turning to alternative financial services providers – new or smaller players, or even their consumer peers. New entrants in particular who are peddling ‘simpler, no strings finance’ stand a better chance of capturing these consumers who are largely disengaged as a result of a general lack of understanding surrounding complex financial products offered by the bigger institutions. Often, they simply don’t understand,” says Anna Large, financial analyst at Datamonitor.

According to the independent business analyst this is an important market for new players entering the industry – if they can bridge the communication gap.