Traffic is expensive for newcomers to generate. Customers trust strong financial brands more than technology. The future will be owned by multi-channel players, those with a portfolio of physical and virtual distribution channels. Few players will be successful using the Internet as a stand-alone channel. A bigger problem facing financial service providers as they migrate their businesses to e-channels, is the customer appeal of financial services.
Customers perceive financial services merely as a necessary evil.
Customers do not want to waste much of their increasingly valuable time on organising their financial affairs. Misgivings about the security of e Business also pervade. The PC has proved a basic and often inefficient tool for convenient use - it will not be the dominant channel of the future. If mobile telephony and digital TV can improve these customer perceptions, e Business could achieve far greater success in future. Europe will continue to function as a fragmented market due to language, culture and regulatory barriers.