There's 47 per cent born every minute

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.