Some 47 per cent of people with access to the internet would be
prepared to use a single website to manage all of their finances,
according to a recent survey.
The study, conducted by TCA Consulting, which provides business
and IT advice to the financial sector, also found that 51 per cent
of people - both with and without internet access - believe
technology will become advanced enough to manage their banking in
the future.
Almost half of internet users would be happy to manage their
current accounts on-line in the future while some 32 per cent would
consider managing their mortgages over the web. In addition, 43 per
cent of respondents said they would administer their credit cards
on the net and 30 per cent said they would do likewise with their
pensions.
Mark Reeves, head of the retail practice at TCA Consulting feels
the results signify a healthy market for e-banking. "The benefits
for banks of providing on-line financial services are great," he
says. "Such offerings will enable them to increase efficiency and
collect customer-centric data to provide individually tailored
value-added service."
The improvements achieved through on-line services will help
customer retention and the wider range of services available will
increase the value of customers to the bank, claims TCA.
"However, banks still need to persuade more customers to use
on-line services," says Reeves. Barely a quarter of the survey
respondents believe that technology is more effective than bank
staff in handling personal finances, suggesting a need for the
personal touch.
Adds Reeves: "These results indicate that many customers still
have certain reservations about online banking - particularly
revolving around a lack of personal service and perceived gaps in
security."
The survey's findings were based on interviews with 960 adults,
carried out across the country during October.