More than half of all Britons now do most of their banking online, with 61% using internet banking a lot more than they did two years ago, according to a survey carried out on behalf of the Alliance & Leicester.
But branch visits are still popular, with respondents preferring to deal face to face for activities such as paying in cheques (73%), withdrawing cash over the counter (20%) and obtaining more complex advice (20%), says the survey of 2,395 UK adults.
Carried out by YouGov, the research reveals that there has been a 63% rise in managing current accounts online since 2003. Twenty-nine percent of Britons use internet banking between one and two times a week, with 12% using it once a day.
In contrast, 12% admit to visiting their branch (to deal with a person) once a week and a further quarter (23%) visit once a month
Among Alliance & Leicester customers, 96% use the internet banking site in order to check balances, while 76% go online to make payments and transfer money.
Of those not currently using internet banking, 21% prefer dealing directly face-to-face, and 13% have security concerns about using online banks. However, 29% said that a security guarantee would be likely to encourage them more.
The security of internet banking is set to improve in the future as banks adopt measures such as two-factor authentication. This technology adds another layer of security to the process by asking users not only for information that they know – such as user IDs and passwords – but also for something they possess. This could be a device that displays a frequently changing unique password or even a fingerprint.
According to reports, the Alliance & Leicester is set to bring in two-factor authentication in the near future. Barclays and Lloyds TSB are also running trials of the technology.