One in five Europeans already uses internet banking, and that
number will double to 130 million in 2007, according to new figures
from Forrester Research. However, during the next five years,
growth will slow as penetration subsides in the Nordics, Germany,
and the UK.
"Net bankers represented 37% of net users at the end of 2002,
and on-line banking services now attract 18% of all European
adults," said Forrester analyst Charlotte Hamilton. "Their number
has more than doubled in the past two years as banks have improved
their sites and promoted Net banking."
According to Forrester, on-line banking in Italy jumped by 88%
in 2002. Penetration also increased in the Netherlands by more than
60% as Dutch banks like ABN AMRO closed branches and heavily
promoted their on-line financial services.
Growth in the UK, the Nordics and Germany started to flatten out
in 2002, pulling the average European banking growth rate down from
60% in 2001 to 40% in 2002.
Forrester projects that the number of Europeans using on-line
banking will double to almost 130 million users in five years.
Forrester used data from the past two years of Consumer
Technographics Europe surveys and data from leading banks to update
its on-line banking forecast.
