Opportunities exist for businesses with strong brands and reputations to offer banking services as a growing number of consumers would consider banking with non traditional financial institutions, or ‘new banks’.

According to a YouGov survey for Deloitte, the business advisory firm, half (51 per cent) of all respondents said they would consider moving their banking relationship to a new bank, with 60 per cent expressing more concern about the safety of their bank, levels of service and fees than they did two years ago.

More than one in five (21 per cent) respondents indicated that they had moved one or more of their banking relationships in the last two years due to the way their bank had treated them.

Steve White, corporate finance Director at Deloitte in St Albans, commented: “These findings reveal how the concerns consumers have towards their traditional banking relationships are making them more likely to explore alternative options with non traditional organisations. When coupled with the change in the economics of banking - due to fundamental shifts in both the demand and supply side of the business - it is clear that there are real opportunities for suitable businesses to extend their offering for new entrants to emerge.

“However, our research also makes it clear that there will likely be fears about the expertise, security and reputation of any such ‘new banks’, and suggests that consumers will only switch if these newcomers provide what consumers really want – namely fairly priced core banking products offered through a convenient branch network.

“As concerns over banks remain fresh in consumers’ minds, there is a real opportunity for non traditional institutions to make a play for their customer relationships. Obviously customers are more cautious about certain products, such as mortgages, but with half of respondents stating that they would consider taking their banking relationship to a non traditional organisation, we could see an evolution in the retail banking space sooner rather than later.

“However, new types of financial institutions must be aware that consumers are still interested in elements of ‘old fashioned banking’, and the importance of having branches and face-to-face interaction with customers should not be underestimated.”