Security concerns seem to be keeping the United States and Canada in the middle of the pack when it comes to online banking adoption, according to a new report.
A recent Forrester Research survey of more than 60,000 online consumers across 14 countries found that 90% of online consumers in the Netherlands use electronic banking, compared with 88% in Sweden, 87% in South Korea and 81% in Australia.
There was a sharp drop off to 65% in Canada and Japan, 62% in France, 60% in Germany, 57% in the United States and 50% in the United Kingdom. China was just under the halfway mark at 47%, with Hong Kong at 44%, Poland and Spain at 41%, and Italy at 24%. India was at the bottom of the list of 14 developed countries at 16%.
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Globally, rates are affected by such factors as branch locations, ATM fees, government support and Internet adoption levels, the Cambridge, Mass., research and advisory firm said.
Forrester said high Internet adoption rates and heavy use of electronic payments are helping to drive up the numbers in the Netherlands and Sweden, and said that online banking has "replaced branch usage in these countries."
Security concerns are holding down online banking adoption in the United States and Canada, Forrester said, adding that it expects those numbers to rise in coming years, driven by Gen Y consumers less fearful of online security issues and less dependent on physical branches.
The think firm said Chinese consumers appear to spend the most time on the Internet, about 27 hours a week on average, but their use tends to center around entertainment. They do, however, check financial accounts on a mobile device at least once a month, the highest rate in the Asian Pacific countries.
South Korean respondents, meanwhile, spend an average of 16 hours per week on the Internet and seem to focus on online shopping, Forrester said.
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