14 Jul Online banking now used by four of five online households
BROOKFIELD, Wis. – More than two million U.S. households adopted online banking and bill payment during the last year, according to a recent consumer survey conducted by The Marketing Workshop and Harris Interactive and sponsored by Fiserv. A total of 69.7 million households, representing four out of five households with Internet access, now use online banking services, primarily to access balance and account history and transfer money between accounts. In addition, 64.4 million households pay at least one bill online, either at a bank website or directly at a company website.
The survey reflects the habits of the 88.2 million households in the United States with Internet access.
“We believe that consumers will continue to conduct more and more of their financial activities online,” said Geoff Knapp, vice president, Online Banking & Consumer Insights, Fiserv. “Online banking and bill payment is a free service, and a convenient and environmentally friendly way to bank. Consumers are actively becoming fans of the user-friendly, secure services financial institutions are implementing.”
With today’s hectic lifestyles, consumers are looking for faster and easier ways to get things done, and it is estimated that people who pay their bills online save five hours a year compared to those that pay using checks. Of those surveyed, 41 percent of current online banking users indicated they planned to pay more bills online at their financial institution’s website in the coming months, while 35 percent of those who pay bills directly at company websites said they planned to pay more bills online at those sites.