The number of Irish consumers who have an account with one of the newer primarily online based banks has fallen in the past year, a new analysis has found.
According to Finder's Neobanking Adoption Report, 22% of Irish adults have a neobank account at present, down from 25% last year.
The use of services offered by challenger banks such as Revolut, N6 and Bunq has grown rapidly in Ireland in recent years.
Revolut currently has over 2 million Irish users.
"Back in early 2020, just 15% of Irish adults had a digital-only bank account," said Finder's global fintech editor Elizabeth Barry.
"Adoption grew rapidly to 25% over 2021 and while there's been a slight drop since then, uptake is still higher than pre-pandemic levels," she added.
The survey of 1,201 internet users here, however, found a further 6% of Irish adults plan to open a neobank account by next year and 6% more by 2027.
Finder says this means adoption could hit 28% by next year and 34% within five years.
The analysis suggests that adoption is being driven by men and young adults, with a quarter of men and 19% of women here using a neobank.
"In terms of age, those aged 25-33 are most likely to hold an account at 34%, compared to just 17% of those aged 55-64 and 12% of those 65 and above," said Elizabeth Barry.
Despite the drop in use last year, Finder says neobank adoption here is ahead of other countries around Europe.
The highest adoption rates among the territories included in the report were in Brazil at 43% and India at 26%.
