Survey Says That 75 Million Europeans Will Be Banking Online By 2005

by Carla Johnson, Investors Offshore.com

12 September 2001

According to a recent report released by Datamonitor, the number of European citizens using online banking services is set to rise to more than 75 million in the next four years, up from just 23 million at the end of 2000. The report, entitled 'eBanking Technology in Europe 2001' found that despite the grim global economic outlook, shaky stockmarkets, and ensuing negativity regarding online-only services, banks are becoming increasingly successful at migrating both expatriate and domestic customers onto the net.

Meanwhile, data released by internet research company, NetValue, has shown that within Europe, the United Kingdom is leading the online banking revolution. According to the report, Britain has more visitors to banking sites than any other European internet market, attracting more than 5 million users, up from 4 million in January.

However, visitors to financial sites are spending less time browsing, and the average duration of visits in July reduced from 28.1 minutes to 22.3 minutes. NetValue's Alki Manias suggests that this is because online banking customers are becoming more confident with the medium as time goes on: 'Internet users are showing that they are comfortable banking online,' said Manias. 'However, users are also spending less time online, suggesting that they know their way around the sites, and what they want to do there.'

According to NetValue, around Europe in general, the online banking audience has increased dramatically- French users, for example, are up one third this year. However, online banking in Germany, previously one of the largest audiences, has actually decreased since January 2001.

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