News Dec 07, 2015 09:37 PM EST

46% of Americans are not loyal to their banks, finds survey

By Staff Writer

While a majority of Americans are loyal to their banks by relying on only one banker, 46.1 percent of account holders are cheating their banks as they have more than one banker. 

Some 53.9 percent have only one bank account.

The latest survey highlighted that majority under 60 percent of non-monogamous bank customers said they have two different banks. It's also observed that women tend to deal with fewer banks than men do. 

According to a survey carried out by GoBankingRates, 54 percent of respondents have an account with one bank only, 27 percent have two banks, 10 percent have three banks, six percent have five banks and three percent have four banks.

GoBankingRates have surveyed over 5,000 respondents on 'How many banks do you current have an active bank account with,? in a Google Consumer Survey. 

The GoBankingRates' survey included all the major factors including savings, checking, certificate of deposit or money market and account types. A majority of Americans are loyal to their bank as they rely on it for types of their financial requirements.

Elyssa Kirkham, the lead GOBankingRates reporter on the survey, said: "Both loyalty and maintaining multiple accounts are fairly common financial behaviors and both have their benefits. Bank customers should carefully decide where to keep their money and regularly assess the service they receive".

"Opening or closing an account could be an opportunity to avoid costs and fees or maximize benefits like high deposit rates", she added.

According to a report by PRnewswire Yahoo partner, a majority of customers, who have more than two bank accounts are dealing with mostly two banks. American women are dealing with fewer banks as they mostly do with one or two banks. However, men have a multi-bank relationship. 

Older Gen Xers in 45-54 age group, having one bank account are 54.4 percent. This age group has the highest percentage of people dealing with five or more banks.

Seven percent in the age group of 45-54 have over five bank accounts. 55.9 percent of Baby Boomers in 55-64 have one bank account while 8.9 percent have three banks. 51.2 percent of senior over 65 years of age have one bank account, 29.3 percent have two bank accounts and 12 percent have three bank accounts.

As the survey analyzing the banking relationship by age, as published by PR Newswire, older millennials in the age group of 25-34 and young Gen Xers in the age group of 35-44 are having more than two bank accounts. Young Millennials in the age group of 18-24 have just one bank account. 

About 62 percent of Americans keep less than $1,000 in their savings accounts. If one has multiple bank accounts with thin minimum balances, customers tend to face minimum balance requirements. Customers having low balance may not qualify for perks and other benefits offered by banks, the survey highlighted.


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