Mobile banking is how almost half of banked US households, 48.3%, reached their accounts in 2023, per the FDIC’s National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households. 70.5% of banked households used an off-site channel, mobile, online, or telephone banking, as the primary method of account access, against only 28.9% who used an in-person channel such as an ATM or a bank teller.
The same survey measures who the shift left behind. 4.2% of US households, representing 5.6 million households, lacked a bank or credit union account in 2023, the lowest overall unbanked rate since the FDIC survey began in 2009. The Federal Reserve counts adults rather than households, and on that basis the unbanked rate in 2024 was similar to recent years, though it has inched up from 5% in 2020. Two agencies measuring the same exclusion report different numbers, and the gap is methodological.
Key Takeaways
- Over the past decade, the use of mobile banking as the primary method of account access increased almost ninefold, reaching 48.3% of banked households, while the use of bank tellers fell by more than half and the use of online banking declined by more than one-third.
- Mobile banking has been the most prevalent primary method of account access since 2019.
- Mobile banking as the primary access method increased more than 30-fold among households aged 65 or older over the past decade, against almost sixfold among households aged 25 to 34.
- Household income tracks digital-channel use, though less sharply than age: mobile-first banking is more common among households earning at least $75,000 than among lower-income households, though the rise is not steady and dips between the two lowest income bands.
- In the euro area, the point-of-sale cash share has declined from 79% in 2016 and 72% in 2019 to more than half, 52%, in 2024.
- The 8% of US adults who experienced fraud not related to their credit card lost an estimated $63 billion in total in 2024.
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- Mobile banking share: 48.3% of banked households, 2023.
- Off-site channels combined: 70.5% of banked households, 2023.
- In-person channels combined: 28.9% of banked households, 2023.
- Unbanked households: 5.6 million, or 4.2% of US households, 2023.
- US bank offices: more than 75,000 domestic offices at more than 4,200 FDIC-insured institutions as of June 30, 2026.
- Euro area online payments: 21% of day-to-day payments in 2024, up from 17% in 2022.
How US Households Access Their Bank Accounts
- Mobile banking was the primary access method for almost half of banked households, 48.3%, in 2023.
- Off-site channels together, mobile, online and telephone banking, accounted for 70.5% of primary access.
- In-person channels, ATMs and bank tellers, accounted for 28.9%.
- The survey asked banked households which method they had used most often to reach their accounts in the past 12 months, across six options including ATMs, tellers, mobile, online, telephone and other.
- Telephone banking and the residual other category are what remains of the pre-app era.
| Primary access method | Share of banked households, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Mobile banking | 48.3% |
| Online banking | 19.8% |
| Bank teller | 15.1% |
| ATM or bank kiosk | 13.8% |
| Telephone banking | 2.3% |
| Other | 0.7% |
Source: FDIC National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households 2023
What percentage of Americans use online banking?
Online banking in the FDIC’s definition means reaching an account with a computer or tablet, and mobile banking means an app, text message, or browser on a phone; almost half of banked households, 48.3%, named the mobile route as their primary method in 2023. These are primary-method shares rather than any-use shares.
Mobile Banking Adoption by Age Group
- Over the past decade, the use of mobile banking as the primary method of account access increased sharply for all age groups.
- The increase ran to almost sixfold among households aged 25 to 34.
- Among households aged 65 or older, the same measure rose more than 30-fold.
- The oldest cohort supplied the steepest proportional change while remaining the least digital in absolute terms.
- Mobile banking has been the most prevalent primary method of account access since 2019.
Recent Developments
- September 18, 2026: The FDIC released its annual survey of branch office deposits for all FDIC-insured institutions as of June 30, 2026, covering more than 75,000 domestic offices operated by more than 4,200 FDIC-insured institutions.
- September 17, 2026: The FDIC Board of Directors approved a notice of proposed rulemaking that would modernize and reform the process by which the FDIC reviews merger transactions under the Bank Merger Act.
- September 17, 2026: The proposed reforms include accounting for credit unions and centrally booked deposits in the competitive effects analysis and establishing a letter filing process with deemed approval for de minimis merger transactions.
- August 25, 2026: FDIC-insured institutions reported a return on assets ratio of 1.37% and aggregate net income of $90.1 billion in the second quarter of 2026.
- August 25, 2026: That net income figure was an increase of $9.7 billion, or 12.0%, from the prior quarter.
By the numbers: The FDIC’s Summary of Deposits counts more than 75,000 domestic offices at more than 4,200 insured institutions as of June 30, 2026, a branch footprint still being mapped county by county while 70.5% of banked households already reach their accounts without visiting one.
The Decade-Long Channel Shift, 2019 to 2023
- Over the past decade, the use of mobile banking as the primary method of account access increased almost ninefold.
- Over the same period, the use of bank tellers fell by more than half.
- The use of online banking declined by more than one-third.
- Mobile banking has been the most prevalent primary method of account access since 2019.
- The same climb shows up by age across all three survey waves: on the survey’s row-percent scale, the 65-or-older cohort moved from 8.3 in 2019 to 15.3 in 2021 and 19.3 in 2023, while the 15-to-24 cohort rose from 62.9 to 74.1 to 76.6.
- Three movements measured by one instrument is what makes this a substitution series rather than three separate adoption curves. The phone did not add a channel to the mix; it took share from the counter and from the desktop at the same time.
Euro Area Cash Use at the Point of Sale
- Cash was still the most frequently used payment method in physical locations in 2024, at more than half (52%) of point-of-sale payments in the euro area.
- That share has declined from 59% in 2022, 72% in 2019 and 79% in 2016.
- The proportion of card payments increased from 34% in 2022 to 39% in 2024.
- By value, cards were the most important single payment instrument at the point of sale with a share of 45%, against 39% for cash.
Where Euro Area Consumers Pay
- 21% of euro area consumers’ day-to-day payments were made online in 2024, against 17% in 2022.
- Point-of-sale payments took 75% of day-to-day payments in 2024, down from 80% in 2022.
- Person-to-person payments held 4% of day-to-day payments in both waves.
- By value, the split runs differently: 58% at the point of sale, 6% person-to-person and 36% online.
- The most frequently used instrument for online payments was cards at 48% of transactions, with payment wallets and mobile apps at 29%.
- Wallet-led neobanks sit inside that 29% share, and Revolut account growth figures track the same European shift from card rails to app rails.
Who Is Still Outside the Banking System
- Nearly 96% of all US households were banked in 2023.
- 4.2% of US households, representing 5.6 million households, lacked a bank or credit union account.
- Two-thirds of unbanked households, 66.2%, relied entirely on cash, while 33.8% relied on a combination of prepaid cards or nonbank online payment services.
- Unbanked rates remained far higher among low-income adults, with just 1% of adults with an income of $100,000 or more unbanked in 2024.
- 11% of adults with a bank account said they paid an overdraft fee in the prior 12 months.
| Measure | Publisher | Unit | Reference year | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unbanked households | FDIC | Share of households | 2023 | 4.2% |
| Unbanked adults | Federal Reserve | Share of adults | 2024 | See SHED |
| Unbanked households, count | FDIC | Households | 2023 | 5.6 million |
| Adults paying an overdraft fee | Federal Reserve | Share of banked adults | 2024 | 11% |
Source: FDIC National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households 2023; Federal Reserve Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking 2024
The two agencies are not contradicting each other. They count different units over different years with different instruments, and a reader who quotes one number as the national figure will be wrong in whichever direction the other measure runs. The honest formulation names both. The same divide shows up in adjacent payment rails, where Zelle and Venmo transfer data concentrate among households that already hold an account.
Fraud and Scam Exposure Among US Adults
- The 8% of US adults who experienced fraud not related to their credit card lost an estimated $63 billion in total in 2024.
- Credit card fraud was the most common type of financial fraud, and consumers are not typically required to cover those losses directly.
- The share of adults who would pay for an unexpected $400 expense with cash or the equivalent was unchanged from 2022 and 2023.
| Fraud measure, 2024 | Value |
|---|---|
| Adults with non-credit-card fraud | 8% |
| Estimated total loss on non-credit-card fraud | $63 billion |
Source: Federal Reserve Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking 2024
Worth noting: The Federal Reserve separates credit card fraud, where the consumer is not typically on the hook, from everything else. It is the everything-else category, covering 8% of adults, that carried an estimated $63 billion in losses in 2024.
What are the downsides of digital banking?
A digital-first account moves the risk surface rather than removing it. The 8% of US adults who experienced fraud not related to their credit card lost an estimated $63 billion in 2024, and credit card fraud, where the consumer is generally not liable, was the more common category. A second cost is easier to miss: the households that have not moved.
Unbanked rates remained far higher among low-income adults in 2024, against just 1% among adults with income of $100,000 or more. A branch network that thins on the assumption that everyone banks by phone removes the fallback channel from the group least likely to be using the app.
Conclusion
Almost half of banked US households, 48.3%, now reach their accounts through a phone first, and 70.5% use an off-site channel of some kind, which makes the branch a secondary surface for most customers rather than the default one. The banks that benefit are the ones treating the app as the primary relationship rather than as a convenience layer bolted onto a branch network, and the card networks behind the rails keep collecting either way, a pattern visible in Visa network transaction data.
The open question is whether households still using a teller do so by preference or because nothing else reaches them. Regulators treating that gap as policy rather than market is visible in central bank digital currency pilot status.
