Over half (61%) of 18-30 year olds would prefer to contact their bank using social media-style mobile messaging similar to the Facebook owned WhatsApp, according to research from Intelligence Environments (IE).

The respondents said they would like to see the messaging service incorporated into existing mobile banking apps, with nearly a third having already contacted their bank or building society via social media.

The survey of 2,000 UK consumers aged 18-30 found that 69% never call their financial services provider, with 43% of participants preferring to have the option to speak to an advisor over a video call when asking a customer service question.

IE, a financial services software provider headquartered in the UK, found the top reason for hanging up on the existing customer help lines was slow customer service.

David Webber, managing director of Intelligent Environments, said: "Financial services providers need to look at ways to integrate customer service channels with forms of communication already being used by their technologically-savvy customers."

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The most popular mobile messaging service on the market WhatsApp was recently acquired by social media giant Facebook for a shock $19bn valuation. This sparked fresh interest in the value of instant messaging over mobile.

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