Younger, poorer people less likely to use bank branches

WASHINGTON — If you haven’t been to a bank or credit union branch in six months, you are not alone.

Three in 10 people haven’t been to a branch in six months and half haven’t been in the last month, according to a Bankrate survey.

The survey finds younger people less likely to visit banks than older people.

Just 19 percent of those between 18 and 29 said they had gone to the bank in the last week, compared with 52 percent of people over 50. Bankrate finds of those who are 30 to 49, 29 percent had been to the bank in the last week.

People who made less go to the bank less often. Of those making less than $30,000 a year, 29 percent said they hadn’t been to the bank in more than a year, Bankrate’s survey finds.

Just one in five retirees had been to a bank branch over the course of the year.

bank graphic (Courtesy Bankrate)

Of the 1,003 people surveyed by landline and cellphone, here’s how often they visited a bank or credit union.

ATM visits did not factor into the survey.

The telephone survey, conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International for Bankrate, questioned 1,003 adults between March 6 and March 9. The results have a margin of error of 3.5 percent.

The survey also found about 61 percent felt about the same as a year ago, when it came to job security. Twenty seven percent said they were more comfortable with their debts than a year ago, while 50 percent said they had the same about their financial situation as they did 12 months earlier.

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