RBC Royal Bank is launching a year-long celebration to mark 10 years of providing online banking services to Canadians.

Throughout 2007, every time a customer pays a bill using RBC Online Banking, their name will be automatically entered into a draw to win $500. Ten winners will be selected each month and there is no limit as to how many times a customer can win.

“We’re linking the contest to clients who pay their bills online with us because that feature continues to be one of our most popular online services,” said James McGuire, vice-president, online strategy and client experience.

Online bill payments at RBC account for over 58 million transactions processed annually — or about 110 transactions every minute of every day — with upwards of 6,000 companies set up to accept online payments.

RBC Online Banking was launched on Dec. 16, 1996 and marked the logon of its one millionth customer in July 2000. Since that time, online banking usage has tripled, with RBC now serving more than three million online customers.

“We’re excited about this 10-year milestone,” McGuire added. “Online banking is the norm for millions of people today, who can do anything from routine banking transactions to managing investments and buying insurance, at any time and from anywhere. It’s remarkable to think that only 10 years ago, none of this was possible.”