Internet Navigation Skills For Financial Management: Associations With Age, Neurocognitive Performance, And Functional Capacity

Objective: Online banking is becoming increasingly common among middle-aged and older adults, who may experience difficulties effectively navigating this sometimes complicated technology. This study examined age effects on a performance-based internet banking task and its association with neurocognitive, functional, and numerical abilities. Method: Thirty-five older adults (age 51-75) and 50 younger adults (age 18-32) completed an experimenter-controlled online banking measure in which they independently performed a series of naturalistic financial tasks (e.g., account transfers, bill paying). Participants also completed standardized tests of cognition, numeracy, and functional capacity. Results: Older adults were markedly slower and less accurate in completing the internet-based banking task, which was not confounded by other demographic, mood, or computer use factors. Higher scores on measures of neurocognition, numeracy, and financial functional capacity were both strongly associated with higher internet-based banking among older, but not younger adults. Conclusions: Findings suggest that older adults experience difficultly quickly and accurately navigating online banking platforms, which may be partly related to age-related declines in neurocognitive functions and basic financial capacity. Future studies might examine whether neurocognitive approaches to remediation and compensation can be used to improve online banking capacity in older adults.Key PointsQuestion: What roles do neurocognition and financial functioning play in performance on a naturalistic online banking task among younger and older adults? Finding: Older adults were slower and less accurate than younger adults at completing online banking tasks, performance on which was associated with neurocognitive, functional, and numerical abilities in the older adults. Importance: Findings suggest that age-related declines in neurocognitive functions and basic financial skills may make it challenging for older adults to effectively manage their finances online. Next Steps: Future research should examine the potential benefits of cognitive strategies in supporting the navigational and financial abilities of older adults during their handling of finances on the internet.