A recent Celent survey of banking customers around the country found that although no single channel has monopolized consumers, 63% selected the ATM as the channel used most often for completing banking transactions.

In a new report, "Channels: Which One Owns the Customer?," Celent Communications provides financial service providers with insight into the state and motivations of users and their channel decisions. In addition to the overwhelming popularity of the ATM, the survey found that, as suspected, bank customers are not loyal to any one channel and continue to prefer multiple touch-points. Even branches, which were once predicted to be supplanted by the Internet, remain popular. In fact, 53% of the respondents had been to a branch within the last month.

"The complexity of the transaction and the consumer’s trust in the channel play major roles in channel selection," says Christine Barry, Celent analyst and author of the report. "Surprisingly, the size of the transaction was only a factor for a small percentage of our respondents."

It is essential that financial institutions understand customer channel preferences and make meeting customer needs a priority. Each channel should be utilized in the most efficient and effective way and customers should be encouraged to use the more cost-effective channels whenever possible. "Integrated channels that provide consistent real time data and a hassle-free experience have become not just a competitive advantage, but a necessity." says Barry.