Although the availability of Internet banking services for consumers is growing rapidly, the study found that the number of households banking online remains relatively small. But while relatively few households have found a compelling reason to switch to online banking, the Internet holds much greater potential for providing banking services to businesses. Businesses of all sizes are looking for cost savings by moving to electronic banking and payments services, and some banks are beginning to respond to this demand, according to the OCC study. However, these banks accounted for 90 percent of national bank assets and 84 percent of all consumer deposit accounts. This represents significant growth from June 1998, when OCC research showed that 6 percent of national banks offered transactional Internet banking.
Large banks have more aggressive plans to offer business Internet banking services.
Most of the growth in Internet banking will occur with small banks coming on-line. However, almost half of small national banks had no plans to offer transactional Internet banking services. The OCC charters, regulates and examines approximately 2,400 national banks and 58 federal branches of foreign banks in the U.S., accounting for more than 57 percent of the nation s banking assets. Its mission is to ensure a safe and sound and competitive national banking system that supports the citizens, communities and economy of the United States.