CHICAGO, July 22, 2010: A recent survey from Mintel Comperemedia, found that 70% of adults who use the Internet also use online banking. Another 7% have signed up for the service, but have never used it.

Consumers aged 25-44 are slightly more likely than their counterparts to use online banking, with 79% reporting usage.

Of those using online banking, 45% of adults bypass their banks’ online bill payment service and go directly to the biller’s website instead. Twenty-two percent of online banking customers have never paid a bill online at all, whether a loan payment to their bank or to another company.

According to Mintel Comperemedia, banks are interested in promoting online banking and bill pay as approximately 40% of all checking direct mail offers include a mention of online banking.

“Despite the high penetration, banks are still eager to increase the usage of online banking,” says Susan Wolfe, vice president of financial services at Mintel Comperemedia. “It’s no secret that online banking creates deeper relationships between banks and customers, so banks are keen to pull in more users.”

According to the Mintel survey, consumers use online banking to:

• Check balances, 93%

• Receive account alerts, 38%

• Pay their mortgages or credit cards issued by their banks, 30%
  

Source: Mintel Comperemedia