Yields, rewards, and sign-up bonuses get the marketing budget. In a survey of 1,000 U.S. adults, none of the three was the top reason people gave for banking where they do. Closeness to home was. Reputation came second. And for a large share of respondents, the choice was made years ago, in some cases by a parent.
A Branch Nearby and a Name People Recognize
Distance won. Among the reasons people gave for opening their primary account where they did, having a bank near home came up most often, cited by 34% of respondents. Reputation came in just behind at 33%.
Together those two sketch a conservative picture of how the decision gets made: a familiar name, within reach of where you live. Yields, rewards, and bonuses show up further down the list.
Proximity means something particular here, though. Someone may pick a bank because a branch is five minutes away and then go years without walking into it. The branch is reassurance more than a routine destination.
Accounts Opened by a Parent, and Opened Early
For 19% of respondents, opening the primary account wasn't their decision to begin with. A parent or someone else did it for them. Separately, 19% said their primary bank is the same one their parents used. That's a sizable share of the market arriving through family habit rather than comparison shopping, and it helps explain how the big national names hold their ground: the account gets opened for a teenager, and it stays open.
The timing fits:
- One-third of people were under 18 when their primary account was first opened.
- 34% opened theirs between the ages of 18 and 22.
Those two groups together are more than two-thirds of adults, and the bank settled on by age 22 is still the one they use.
Almost 40% at a National Chain, Two Accounts on Average
The national chains dominate. Almost 40% of people keep their primary account at a major national bank, the Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America tier.
Most people also spread their banking across more than one place. Respondents held two active accounts on average: the primary one absorbs the routine traffic, checks going in and bills going out, with a second account alongside it.
Banks that operate without branches, where an app or a website is the only counter, hold 13% of primary accounts, about one in eight adults.
What Online-Only Customers Say They Wanted
Among people who use an online-only bank as their primary account, the reasons cluster around access and low barriers to entry:
| Reason cited | Share of online-only users |
|---|---|
| Convenience of banking online | 60% |
| No minimum deposit to open | 44% |
| Flexibility | More than one-third |
| Reduced fees vs. traditional banks | More than one-third |
Convenience is the standout. Nothing else on the list comes close.
Over 90% Log In Monthly, 42% Walk Into a Branch
How often people actually touch their accounts shows the same pattern from a different angle:
- Over 90% access their bank account online at least once a month.
- 55% use an ATM to get cash monthly.
- 42% visit a physical bank location monthly.
Branch visits are now a minority monthly activity, even though branch location is the top reason people choose a bank in the first place. In a given month, more people stop at an ATM than walk into a branch.
Generational Splits on Security, Apps, and Rewards
Some priorities hold steady across age groups. Interest rates and access to human customer support were valued at similar rates by every generation surveyed.
Others split sharply. Data security was called important by 90% of Baby Boomers and 72% of Gen Z, with its importance declining in each younger group. Boomers were the only generation in which fewer than half of respondents said a mobile banking app matters to them. Rewards and benefits registered as important with 44% of Boomers.
The Paperwork of Moving Direct Deposit and Autopay
The mechanics of moving an account explain part of why one opened at 19 can outlast decades of better offers. Direct deposit gets redirected through an employer's payroll system. Automatic payments have to be re-pointed one at a time, and each one that gets missed can turn into a late fee or a returned payment.
Picture someone with a paycheck deposited into their checking account, a mortgage payment, a car insurance premium, and two subscriptions all drafting from it. Rewiring that takes an afternoon of admin and a few weeks of watching statements to confirm nothing bounced. A modest difference in yield may not clear that bar for everyone.
How the Survey Was Conducted
The findings come from a survey of 1,000 U.S. adults conducted in August 2023.
Habit Holds Accounts in Place
Habit does a lot of the work in this market. Location and reputation get people in the door, family sets the default for a sizable minority, and the account opened before age 23 tends to stick, even as day-to-day banking has moved almost entirely onto screens.
Which is why branch proximity still tops the list. Someone who deposits cash, needs notarized paperwork, or wants a person at a desk has a reason to care how far away the nearest building is. Someone whose banking is a monthly app check, a few transfers, and an occasional ATM stop does not, and that's the customer the online-only model is built around.
At 13% of primary accounts, that group is still the smaller one.
