Australian Survey Finds 66% Don’t know About Bitcoin

Fair Go Finance recently released the findings of their “future of money” survey which reviewed the importance of financial technology in Australia.

When asked questions on Bitcoin usage, only 34% of those surveyed responded that they knew about Bitcoin when asked the question "Do you know anything about Bitcoin?"

Of these respondents, 57% of men knew something about Bitcoin while 43% did not. Women were less aware, with only 28% having heard about Bitcoin.

Interestingly, "Generation X" and "Generation Y" were equally knowledgeable with little difference between the 2.

Paul Walshe, Managing Director of Fair Go finance commented on cryptocurreny usage in the country

"The Bitcoin story continues to unfold and while Cryptocurrencies haven’t had as much traction in Australia, it is encouraging to hear support from the likes of Commonwealth Bank which seems to be embracing, if not pioneering the shift here. That said, there is still a lack of awareness in Australia as only 34% of Australians in our survey indicating they are aware of Bitcoin. There has been a lot of expectation, or perhaps pressure, put on the cryptocurrency for 2015 so it will be interesting to see where we end up. Nevertheless, the continued attention and focus on Fintech will be very beneficial to the industry."

On the whole Australians use digital money and financial technology for banking and paying bills (91%), but nearly one in five (17%) are now using their smartphone to make payments in store instead of using a debit or credit card. This is highest amongst men (22% v 15%) and 18-24 year olds (21%).

Paul Walshe, Managing Director of Fair Go Finance, said the mobile wallet is a reality for many Australians. “Around 80% of Australians own a smartphone (1) so it’s understandable we’re turning to our mobile for our financial needs. Credit and debit cards will soon become superfluous and I wouldn’t be surprised if ATMs are phased out in future too.

“The fact new payment options like Apple Pay are now available and telcos such as Optus have launched a mobile payment app, all points to a mobile future and our research shows there is huge appetite for this.”

A desire for round the clock access is driving the revolution with seven in 10 (71%) saying the best feature of digital money and financial technology is convenience and they can use it 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

And this ease of access is increasingly important to consumers with the data showing a third (36%) of Australians would change banks for better digital money and financial technology services. This increases to nearly 50% (49%) among Australians who already use their smartphone to pay for goods in store instead of a debit or credit card.

Paul commented, “Traditional financial providers need to up the ante if they are going to retain their customers as people aren’t afraid to vote with their feet if their technological needs aren’t being met. We are constantly looking at ways we can evolve our services”

This appetite for technology extends to using social media for financial needs. Around one in 10 (11%) survey respondents said they would use Facebook to transfer money to friends and family with this increasing to 14% among men and 18-24 year olds.

“Disruption in the financial services will only continue with peer to peer lending and payments via social media the next frontier. The launch of SnapCash in the United States is just one example of how social media can be used financially by consumers,” says Paul. “We already conduct so much of our lives on the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, the next logical step is financial.”