"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.