Growth of Online Banking in the US

More than 22 million users logged into online banking accounts at the US' top ten banks in the first quarter of 2004, 29% up on Q1 2003, according to comScore Networks. During this same period, usage of online bank bill payment services has grown by 37%.

More than 4.6 million consumers, or about 20 percent of the online banking population, actively used online bill payment services offered by the top ten banks. These consumers paid an average of 14 bills online during the quarter, with an average value of approximately $250. The total value of bills paid by consumers though the top ten banks in Q1 alone was nearly $17 billion.

'Online banking and bill payment continue to be among the fastest growing applications on the Internet', said Jim Larrison, Vice President of comScore Financial Services Solutions, citing the continued proliferation of broadband access and heavy online and offline promotion as key drivers for growth.

'Previous comScore research has shown that consumer use of online bill payment is correlated with greater loyalty to a bank and higher account balances', says Larrison. 'These benefits, along with the significant cost savings that come with processing transactions online instead of on paper, have led top banks to offer their customers compelling incentives to use such services'.

With its Q1 2004 report, comScore also launched the Online Banking Development IndexTM (BDI). The BDI benchmarks banks using ten components across three major categories - Adoption, Engagement and Loyalty - and produces a composite score for each bank.

Bank of America tops the first table of BDI - see below. Rating first on Engagement, second to Citibank on Adoption (and use of bill pay services) and also strongly on Loyalty, Bank of America continues to grow its already substantial online customer base at impressive rates.

The report, which banking industry professionals and members of the media can request by sending an e-mail to banking@comscore.com , includes:

• Quarterly online banking growth statistics
• Online banking usage profile (top activities, average number of logins, time spent, etc.)
• Demographic analysis of online banking users
• Quarterly online bill payment statistics
• New account acquisition statistics
• Online Banking Development Index rankings

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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