The relationship between clients and banking entities in Spain goes through a paradox: while the general perception of the sector continues to be conditioned by a historically eroded image, objective data point to a level of experience significantly higher than that of other areas of activity. That is the main conclusion of the “Banking Entities Observatory”, prepared by Connecting Visions and Andersen Consulting, which analyzes how users experience their interaction with banking.
The study, developed from an analysis of more than 130 applications, international benchmarking and 1,000 user interviews, reveals the leadership of Spanish banking in the digital environment. Far from the dominant narrative, the sector competes and surpasses, in many cases, industries traditionally associated with technological innovation.
Thus, digitalization is the structural axis of the link between client and entity. 70% of users interact mainly with their bank through the app, far ahead of the website (42%) or the physical branch (36%). This data reflects a change in habit and the consolidation of a multichannel model in which digital dominates without eliminating the rest of the contact points. In fact, half of users combine several channels, suggesting that the banking experience today is articulated as an ecosystem rather than a single interface.
The assessment also accompanies this intensive use. Banking apps achieve an average score of 7.9 out of 10, with almost two-thirds of the ratings concentrated in the highest sections. There are hardly any negative scores, indicating a consistent experience in functionality, ease of use and performance.
But the most relevant data is not the internal satisfaction, but the external comparison: 98% of users consider that banking applications are equal to or better than those in other sectors. 
This leadership is also confirmed in the marketplaces. Spanish banking apps lead the ratings on Android with an average of 4.34 out of 5 and are in second position on iOS, only behind the automotive sector.
94% consider that the payment methods offered by banks make their daily lives easier
Beyond the channel: utility, adoption and habit
The digital domain is not limited to interfaces, but extends to the everyday use of financial services. 94% of users consider that the payment methods offered by banks make their daily lives easier, consolidating their role as an invisible consumer infrastructure.
In this context, Bizum has become a transversal standard. Its adoption exceeds 70% in all age groups and reaches 90.5% among users between 25 and 34 years old. This level of penetration deactivates one of the most widespread ideas about financial digitalization: it is not a generational phenomenon. Even among those over 65 years of age, the use of digital tools exceeds expectations and, in some cases, the average assessment of the entire population.
But if there is one attribute that defines the relationship with banking, it is security. 87.5% of users claim to feel safe or very safe when operating with their entity and, more than half, consider that the level of protection is higher than in other sectors. In this way, security is the main attribute associated with the sector, followed by ease of use and technology.
Added to this is a positive perception of innovation. 62% of users consider that banking entities innovate a lot or a lot in channels and services, which reinforces the idea of a sector that, despite its maturity, maintains the capacity for evolution in experience.
One of the most relevant findings of the report is the shift in price as the main source of friction. 86% of users perceive banking services as equal to or cheaper than those in other sectors, which places cost in the background within the relationship. On a comparative level, Spain has an average annual cost of banking services of 65 euros, 48% lower than the average of the markets analyzed and only behind the British model of free banking.
However, the rejection of commissions does not disappear, although it changes in nature. It does not respond so much to the lack of value of the service as to a perception of double profitability: 80% of users who refuse to pay consider that the entities already obtain benefits through the money deposited.
As a consequence, despite high levels of satisfaction, innovation and competitiveness, banking continues to occupy discrete positions in multi-sector rankings of customer experience. But the report itself suggests that this discrepancy responds more to beliefs than to objective realities.
The conclusion is that Spanish banks have built an efficient, functional and well-valued digital infrastructure, but they have not managed to translate that value into their public perception. Hence, the challenge for the sector is, beyond improving what it does, to also tell it better.
More info: Observatory of Banking Entities
