Fintech challenger banks like Revolut and N26 are the financial service providers in which Irish adults place the least trust while credit unions top the list of the most trustworthy, a new survey by Peopl Insurance.
Based on a poll of 1,000 people across the State, the survey also indicates that just one in 10 Irish adults have a low level of trust in An Post with 43 per cent of respondents over the age of 55 saying they have a high level of trust in the national postal service.
Just over half of respondents said they had high levels of trust in their local credit union with only 8 per cent saying the opposite.
Some 27 per cent of adults, meanwhile, said they have low levels of trust in traditional banks, second only to fintechs, in which 37 per cent of respondents said they had little trust.
However, the results of the poll suggest a noticeable “age distinction in the preferences for traditional and modern forms of banking”, Peopl said, with 77 per cent of those aged 18-24 placed a high trust value in fintechs, compared with just 8 per cent of over 55s.
“Relatively small percentages across the age groups have low levels of trust in credit unions when compared with the other financial institutions”, the company said.
“As a cornerstone of local communities throughout Ireland for generations, it’s perhaps unsurprising to find that credit unions and An Post garner such a high level of trust among the general public,” said Paul Walsh, chief executive of home and life insurance company Peopl, which operates through credit unions.
“What is interesting however, is that so few people extend the same sentiment towards banks that have been part of the financial landscape of this country for decades.”
Mr Walsh said: “Banks have the highest proportion of low trust sentiment among consumers, perhaps due to the banking crisis post 2008, the tracker scandal, and recent closures nationwide. These may compound to erode public trust over time.”
