One third of bank customers use online facility

More than one third of bank customers use the internet to keep track of savings accounts or current accounts, according to new research.

A study conducted by Nationwide bank, which claims to have established the first internet banking service, discovered that 37 per cent of UK adults use internet banking.

Nationwide has seen its online presence grow from the 13,000 customers who registered for the online service when it was launched on May 27th 1997 to over three million now.

For many bank customers it is hard to imagine managing their finances without the online facilities, with 66 per cent of online customers logging on at least once a week and 12 per cent saying they manage all their banking needs through the internet.

Online banking facilities are used to manage a whole range of financial products.

More than 90 per cent of internet bankers manage their current account online and 66 per cent manage their savings account online.

Half of the users of the online facility use it to manage credit cards, 14 per cent access personal loans, and 17 per cent use it to keep an eye on their mortgages.

Recently banks such as Barclays and NatWest have announced that they will be sending regular online banking users devices which will increase the security of home banking. The machines will read special codes from customer’s cards, which when entered to the bank’s website will authorise payments.