With 72 per cent of UK consumers now saying that they do the majority of their banking online, the mobile app is increasingly providing the front door to a bank, rather than physical branches.

That is according to a survey of 800 UK and 1,200 US consumers by Propeller Insights for card issuing platform Marqeta, which found that banking apps are fast becoming the preferred way of accessing financial services, with 77 per cent of account holders considering switching to digital-only providers.

Nearly three quarters (74 per cent) of consumers said they expect to use their mobile banking app regularly in the next three months, in comparison with just 22 percent who expect to visit a physical branch.

Amongst UK customers, visits to physical bank branches are even less common than US consumers, with 21 per cent of UK respondents planning to go to a bank in the next three months, compared to 30 per cent of US respondents.

The survey also showed that the younger generations are leading the way in digital banking adoption, with almost two-thirds (65 per cent) of UK respondents aged 18 to 34 saying they use a digital bank as either a primary or secondary banking option.

Of those that used a digital bank in tandem with a traditional option, 56 per cent said that they were more satisfied with the service provided by their digital bank.

However, while uptake of digital banking services is on the rise, many customers see the fact that many digital banks are newly established as an unknown when it comes to risk. More than half (51 per cent) of UK consumers said they felt like a digital bank was a riskier place to store their money, while 41 per cent said they would limit how much money they deposited in a digital bank.

A further 78 per cent of UK respondents said they considered a bank’s security and reputation before giving it their business, with 30 per cent saying that a lack of market track record was holding them back from making the move to a challenger.

Ian Johnson, head of Europe at Marqeta, said: “This research demonstrates that UK consumers are ready to go digital with their finances, but digital banks still must work hard to innovate as we become an increasingly cashless, mobile-first society.

“Apps and payments cards account for an overwhelming majority of spending and money-management actions, and the rapid rise of new wave challenger banks is a major driver of this of this.”

Marqeta anticipates that the modern card issuing will be worth as much as $80 trillion globally by 2030, which in turn will continue to create unprecedented demand for innovation and new offerings in banking.

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