The February 2008 Pew Internet & American Life Project's "Online Shopping" report focused strictly on US adult Internet users, and found an even higher level of online banking participation: 53% of respondents said they banked online as of September 2007, equivalent to 39% of the total US adult population.
Online banking is especially popular with higher-income adults in the US. Nearly seven out of 10 of people surveyed by Pew with annual incomes over $100,000 said they had tried online banking, compared with only 19% of those earning less than $25,000 a year.
Unlike for many Web activities, younger users trail when it comes to banking online. Hitwise surveyed US Internet users who visited banking Web sites from December 2007 to January 2008 and found that 28% of respondents were ages 55 and older. Those ages 18 to 24 made up only slightly over 11% of the total.
Many banks see the need to broaden their online offerings, which may attract a younger and more diverse range of consumers.
According to reports from Gartner, by 2012, 75% of banks will deploy Web 2.0 technologies on their sites and via existing social networks such as MySpace and Facebook. These applications will be instrumental in engaging Hispanic-American and Asian-American consumers as well as younger consumers ages 18 to 34.
