Beyond the 'Unofficial Proxy' - Navigating Technology Support for Older Adults' Banking Activities with Close Others

In the context of extensive bank branch closures, and a rapidly ageing population, older adults’ (OAs’) reluctance to adopt digital banking platforms by themselves is concerning. However, many OAs rely on the support of close others (COs) to complete banking activities with them. This support is mostly provided through “unofficial” mechanisms such as sharing online banking credentials, which risk an OA's privacy and security. This paper replicates a Canadian study with OAs in a UK context and extends it with co-design workshops focused on novel banking solutions for OAs and COs, helping to formalise the role of unofficial proxies within online platforms. Results show that unofficial proxy banking also occurs with COs in a UK context and co-design reveals barriers to OAs’ use of banking technology independently. We discuss recommendations for flexible, easily authenticated and easy to learn digital banking solutions for OAs in the future.