Banking web sites attracted more than five million UK home internet users in July, up from 3.8 million in January, according to the latest figures from the internet monitoring company NetValue. The UK has more visitors to banking sites than any other of the eight main European countries surveyed. This figure represents over one third (37%) of all UK internet users.

Women constitute more than half (53%) of new users of on-line banking services this year. Figures for women banking on-line are up more than 60% since January.

NetValue’s Alki Manias said of the results that, "UK Internet users are showing that they are comfortable banking on-line. However, users are also spending less time online, suggesting they know their way round the sites, and what they want to do there."

Lloyds TSB had most users going to a part of their site with a secure connection, the part in which transactions take place. Of all visitors to lloydstsb.com, 64% made a secure connection. Egg.com came second.

Elsewhere in Europe, on-line banking continues to be popular. The French on-line banking audience has increased by a third this year, and Scandinavian countries are keen users of these services. In Sweden, more than half (54.1%) of Internet users use banking sites. Norway (48.1%) and Denmark (44%) have the next largest proportions of on-line banking users amongst their on-line populations.

Germany is the exception, where use of on-line banking has actually decreased since January. Only Italian users buck the trend of spending less time on-line with 42.3 minutes per month, almost double the UK figure.

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