Online Banking: Still Not There

With all the hype around mobile banking’s progress and promise, it’s easy to forget that good ol’, PC-based online banking still has its own usage barriers.

Outside of Gen X users, according to a new Forrester Research report, many bank customers enrolled in online banking still aren’t using the Web to perform billpays, transfer funds or even check their balances. Forrester’s benchmark study of consumer technology use found that while 60 percent of users age 29-42 have gone online to check account balances, less than 50 percent of Baby Boomers and 40 percent of senior citizens have done so. And those spunky Gen Y’ers born with a mouse in hand go to Web sites less often for banking and billpay than the 43-and-up boomers, says Forrester.

If you exclude Gen X’ers, “online banking is still nascent,” states the report. “Community banks serve fewer than half their online customers online, and only 23 percent of consumers pay their bills at a bank’s Web site—despite 10 years of trying.”