(December 13 – 11:35 ET) – Two in 10 Canadians are signed up for Internet banking, double the number from a year ago. And those who are registered for the service use it frequently. Six in 10 (59%) report clicking on their account at least once a week. These are just one of the findings noted in an annual marketing research report, Banking Services Delivery Study, conducted by Canadian Facts, a division of CF Group Inc.
“Compared to other methods of banking, Internet banking has seen the biggest jump in usage over the past year,” says Rhonda Grunier, senior research director of Canadian Facts.
Among Canadians not planning to sign up with their financial institution for online banking, the main reason cited is a lack of a computer and/or an Internet connection, mentioned by 32% of those not planning to register.
The majority of Canadians, however, continue to deal with their financial institution at the branch level. Fully six in 10 Canadians have visited a branch in the past month to conduct a transaction in person with a teller or other staff member. This level of branch usage has stabilized after having declined steadily between 1994 and 1999.
Still, four in 10 Canadians say they are visiting branches less often than they did a year ago. The main reason cited is an increased use of alternative channels, such as Automated Banking Machines and Internet banking.
“Past month users of ABMs, telephone and Internet banking services are younger and tend to have higher household incomes when compared to Canadian adults in general. They also tend to be above average users of each of the other alternative service delivery modes,” says Grunier.
Among other findings in the study:
- 6% of Canadians report that they have an account with a discount brokerage;
- registration for online trading has doubled over the past year, from 2% of Canadians to 4%; and
- 19% of Canadians with Internet access use the Web to manage their investments, for example, by tracking their portfolios or researching products.
.-IE Staff