The Commonwealth Bank’s 2007 ‘E-Money’ survey highlights

The annual ‘E-Money’ survey was conducted by telephone on behalf of the Commonwealth Bank by Galaxy Research in April 2007. A representative sample of 1,100 respondents aged 16 years and over from across Australia were interviewed about their electronic banking habits and attitudes.

Key Findings (National)

• Nearly half a million Australians aged 50 and over (440,000) have signed up to internet banking since the inaugural 2006 E-Money survey. This is a 26 per cent increase in one year.
• Around 8.2 million Australians aged 16 years and older (equivalent to 52 per cent of the population) have used online banking. This is an increase of 1.3 million users since last year’s E-Money survey.
• Almost six in ten (58 per cent) Australians rated internet banking as one of the consumer technology advances that has made the biggest improvement to their lives in the last ten years – second only to the mobile phone (66 per cent) and ahead of music technology such as the iPod and MP3 players (35 per cent).
• 61 per cent of online banking users are aged under 45 years, whereas 60 percent of non-users are aged 45 years and over.

Security

• Around nine in ten (90 per cent) users believe that online banking systems are secure.
• Almost all online banking users (98 per cent) use some form of online security measures.
• The most popular security measures include:
  - logging out correctly at the end of each session (93 per cent);
  - remaining selective about using online banking at shared or work computers (69 per cent);
  - updating personal details and mobile phone numbers to enable notification of any unusual activity (67 per cent);
  - regularly updating and protecting passwords (55 per cent);
  - setting daily withdrawal limits to suit their needs (47 per cent).

Electronic banking behaviour

• Almost all (92 per cent) online banking users access the service from home.
• More than half of full time workers (54 per cent) access online banking from work.
• The most common services used in online banking are:
  - checking account balance checks;
  - checking transaction histories;
  - transferring funds between accounts.
• The average user will check their account balance around twice a week online and transfer funds around once a week.
• More than two thirds of online bankers use the service to schedule future payments of bills or money transfers, transfer funds to family, friends or other people, or to pay their credit card or other bills.

Accessing cash

• Slightly less than half of all adults (46 per cent) will seek out their own bank’s ATMs when they need to withdraw cash to save paying fees. One in five (22 per cent) will use the closest ATM and 16 per cent withdraw cash using EFTPOS when making a purchase.
• Half of Australian adults (50 per cent) withdraw money from their bank account on an as-needs basis. 48 per cent plan ahead and withdraw the funds on a weekly basis or less often.
• Withdrawing money as needed is most popular amongst those aged 16-24 years (74 per cent) and online banking users (56 per cent); it is least popular among those aged 50 years and older (37 per cent) and non-users of internet banking (43 per cent).

Attitudes towards Electronic Banking

• 39 per cent of Australians prefer online banking to any other method, ahead of banking in a branch (27 per cent), ATM banking (20 per cent) and telephone banking (12 per cent).
• More than eight in ten online banking users say they choose to use it because it saves them time.
• If Australians had an extra 15 minutes a day thanks to technology:
  - 76 per cent would spend time with family and friends;
  - 54 per cent would just spend time by themselves;
  - 51 per cent would exercise;
  - 37 per cent would sleep;
  - 26 per cent would cook;
  - 22 per cent would take better care of their looks.
• More than three quarters (78 per cent) of all Australians said that if electronic banking channels ceased to exist tomorrow it would impact them. 61 per cent of Australians who use online banking said that they would feel lost without it or that it would greatly impact their banking habits if the service ceased to exist.

What’s changed in a year? E-Money Survey 2006 vs. 2007

• In 2006, residents in regional and rural areas still preferred banking in a branch, whereas in 2007 there is equal preference for branch banking and online banking.
• The impact that online banking now has on Australians is demonstrated by the growth in usage of particular services. Between the 2006 and 2007 surveys:
  - the number account balance checks conducted online has increased by one third;
  - fund transfers conducted online have increased by 60 per cent;
  - credit card payments conducted online have doubled.

 

ENDS

For more information, contact:

Bryan Fitzgerald
Media Relations
Ph: 02 9378 2663