New figures on banking behaviour in Ireland have drawn a sharp numerical line between saving and investing. The 2026 Consumer Sentiment Banking Survey found that 77% of respondents held a savings account, while 3% reported having an investment account. The Department of Finance has published the results as part of its annual look at consumers’ experiences and perceptions of the retail banking market.
The gap is a description of reported account ownership, not a judgement about what any person should do with their money. It nevertheless gives the survey a clear central finding: saving is a familiar financial habit for a large share of those questioned, whereas investment-account ownership remains uncommon within the sample.
The publication comes alongside plans for a new Investment Account, due to be introduced next July. The proposed account is intended to have no minimum contribution and a tax-free threshold of €50,000. It is not an account currently open to consumers, and the survey results do not remove the need for people to understand the features and risks of any financial product before making a decision.
Other responses point to broad use of everyday banking products. Almost all respondents, 98%, reported holding a current account. Savings-account ownership stood at 77%, while 25% held a mortgage account. Credit-card ownership was 35%, down from 37% in the preceding survey. Credit unions also remained widely used: 32% of respondents said they held an account with one, although 3% identified a credit union as their main account provider.
Established retail banks remained the main banking relationship for most participants. AIB, Bank of Ireland or PTSB was named as the main provider by 86% of respondents. Overall satisfaction with a main financial provider was 87%, compared with 89% in 2025, while 4% reported dissatisfaction.
The findings also trace the growing place of app-based services. Forty-eight per cent said they held an account with Revolut, up from 43% in 2025. Most use it mainly for money transfers, but 6% identified it as their main financial account, double the 3% reported a year earlier. That change sits beside continuing use of established banks rather than replacing it across the survey population.
Digital habits appeared elsewhere in the responses. Weekly online-banking use was 70%, unchanged from 2025, though it was less common among older adults. Twenty-one per cent said they had used artificial intelligence to obtain information or advice about financial products and services. The survey recorded marked differences between age groups in both use of these tools and confidence in them. It does not assess the quality of individual advice obtained through such tools.
Payment preferences were also shifting. Twenty-one per cent preferred to pay for in-store purchases with cash, a proportion described as relatively steady. Preference for contactless payment by smartphone rose to 35%, from 27% in 2025, while preference for using cards fell. These results capture stated preferences at the time of the research rather than a prediction of how every customer will pay in future.
Physical branches still featured in the banking experience. Among current-account holders with a traditional retail bank, 59% said their nearest branch was within five kilometres of home. A further 23% put the distance at between five and 10 kilometres, with 18% reporting a greater distance. Cash lodgements and withdrawals were the most common reason for a branch visit, cited by 68% of visitors; speaking to someone about a specific product was second at 29%.
The survey was based on face-to-face interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1,510 adults aged 18 and over. Fieldwork took place from 9 July to 14 August 2025. The findings have been published in 2026, but the responses themselves were collected last year, an important distinction when reading them as a snapshot of consumer behaviour.
