11.8 million Canadians, or 64% of all Internet users, visited online banking sites in August, according to data released today.
This is an impressive jump from the 8.7 million Canadians that visited a banking site in May 2003 — an increase of over 3 million Canadians, or 36% in the past 15 months.
“The days of standing in line at your financial institutions to complete a simple banking transaction are over. The Internet has revolutionized the way that Canadians bank and access their financial information,” said Brent Lowe- Bernie, president of comScore Media Metrix Canada, in a release. “The web has also drastically changed the way that we buy and sell stocks and bonds, apply for credit cards, pay bills, and much more.”
An analysis of growth in the banking category since last year found significant strides among nearly every major entity. HSBC and ING Group led the way with increases of 88% and 55%, respectively.
Other banking groups also showed growth the in the number of unique visitors between August 2004 and August 2003:
- RBC Financial Group, 34.4%
- TD Financial Group, 8.4%
- DESJARDINS.COM, 36.9%
- Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, 17.7%
- Scotiabank Group, 13.6%
- Bank of Montreal Sites, 16.8%
- BNC.CA, 14.4%, and
- PCFINANCIAL.CA, 41.4%
“These are significant increases, which demonstrate the increasing sophistication of the Canadian Internet population,” said Lowe- Bernie. “These increases also reflect banking institutions’ success in catering their online products to their customers’ needs.”