Somewhere down the road, everyone will be using electronic banking in some form. He considers that cheap compared to the benefits of being able to offer customers cutting-edge service. Martin said Bank of Sacramento's electronic banking service pretty much matches the programs the big banks offer. And response has been spirited. The bank has set a goal of getting 30 percent of its customers online in another six months.
People are interested and ask about it.
The demand is definitely there. Especially younger business people who grew up with electronics, they demand this sort of tool. Martin said it's difficult to do a cost analysis of e-banking. There will be less time handling people's transactions, and it's awfully hard to quantify that. John Stafford, a spokesman for Bank of the West, said he views Internet banking as a delivery channel rather than a product.