Canadians are leaders in adopting online banking services- study

Study finds that Canada is one of the most developed countries in terms of online banking, with 61.7 percent of the country's internet users visiting a banking site in April 2008. During the same period, 49.5 percent of UK internet users accessed online banking services, as compared with 44.4 percent in the US and 41.7 percent registered in Australia.

Canada is also positioned first in terms of online banking frequency, with an average of eight usage days and 10.5 visits per user in April. Users spent an average of 46 minutes on banking sites during the month, viewing nearly 121 pages.

Of the 24 million Canadian internet users, 15.5 million visited a banking site in April 2008, up by 2 percent over the same period of 2007, when 15.1 million web users accessed online banking services. RBC Financial Group was the most popular site, with 4.6 million visitors within this period, a number which declined by 2 percent as compared with April 2007. TD Bank Financial Group occupied the second position, with 4.5 million visitors and a 2 percent increase in visitation. Bank of Montreal Sites reported the greatest increase in visitation during 2007: a 22 percent growth.. In April 2008, the total number of unique visitors grew by 2 percent over April 2007, but total internet audience rose by 4 percent.The demographic profile of the visitors indicates that nearly 74 percent of those aged between 25 and 44 use online banking services, as compared to 63 percent of those aged 55 and older.

Online banking penetration among Canadians aged 45 to 54 reached 73 percent. This segment showed the heaviest frequency in usage, as those belonging to this age category visited banking sites 12 times a month and viewed 157 pages. The study suggests this may be caused by the fact that this age group deals with more financial challenges than others, such as retirement planning and paying for the university education of their children. For those between 35 and 44 years old, the study indicates 122 average pages per visitor and 10.5 average visits per visitor.


source: http://epnn.com/content/view/17515/419/