The survey found that in general more customers regularly go into a branch rather than surfing a building society's website.
Almost half of building society customers (45%) surveyed by Legal & General took out their mortgage in branch against just 19% that did the same online.
The survey found that in general more customers regularly go into a branch, and more than half (56%) say the branch network is important to the local community.
The branch is the most common sales channel for life insurance (47%), home insurance (43%), critical illness (38%) and income protection (33%).
Andy Elkington, director - bank and building society distribution at Legal & General, said: “The findings from this research illustrate the significant challenge building societies face in devising strategies for a digital future.
“But they also illustrate the opportunities that remain to be grasped and we hope these results help building societies and their members as they consider new customer propositions.”
Interestingly however, the survey showed that when asked how they would like to buy insurance, 42% said they would prefer to buy online through the building society’s portal against just 30% wanting to in branch.
