The UK will be the biggest European market for IT
spending in the banking and insurance sectors this year, with
growth also outstripping the US.
Analyst Datamonitor said more widespread internet banking and
web security improvements were among the factors driving UK
spending growth.
Datamonitor said the UK IT market in banking this year would be
worth $23bn (£13.5bn), and spending in the insurance market would
reach $16bn (£9.4bn).
Datamonitor said the UK would hold its spending leadership
position in Europe until at least 2008.
The analyst said that through to 2008, the year-on-year rate of
growth in IT spending by UK banks is expected to be 8.1%. This
compares with just 4.5% at US banks.
Datamonitor added that IT spending in the UK insurance industry
was expected to grow by an annual 4.1% to 2008, compared to 3.5% in
the US.
