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29 January 2015 09:41
Three times as many older people are going online now than two years ago
Over two-fifths of British people over the age of 65 are 'silver surfers' using the internet, compared to less than a third two years ago.
Ofcom figures show that the 42% of online over-65s now do so via a variety of means, not just PCs but with tablets and smartphones too.
They're also using a wide variety of apps and websites to fulfil everyday tasks like banking and arranging seniors travel insurance.
Internet banking boom
More and more people are interacting with their banks using online facilities. Some banks report they are seeing more new online users in their 70s and 80s than those in younger age groups.
The British Bankers' Association (BBA) says nearly a third of people (30%) older than 70 are banking online, some 2.3 million people.
What's more, 450,000 people over the age of 60 are doing their banking on mobile devices.
The take-up of mobile banking across the population is forcing banks to change the way they do business sooner than expected.
It is likely to see more branch closures as more and more older customers do their banking online. One in five (20%) bank customers over the age of 80 and more than one in three (36%) people between the ages of 70 and 79 are registered to bank online.
Although older customers are less likely than those who are younger to be registered bank online, there is little difference between the age groups in how often they do it, the BBA figures show.
Changing online attitudes
The Ofcom Media Use and Attitudes Report shows the use of applications and the internet for any purpose among 65 to 74-year-olds has more than trebled from 5% in 2012 to 17%.
Furthermore, a fifth of people in this age group are now using mobile internet and apps on smartphones. The rate was 12% two years ago.
The figures also show that internet users over the age of 65 are the least likely to use security features and also to report any security problems when they are online.
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