Online banking use grows, and service increases customer loyalty

A new report by Fiserv shows a major shift in the type of customers who use online banking, and those who use the service continue to show strong loyalty in banking and use more of the financial institution's services.

The company's latest Consumer Billing and Payment Trends report found that 72.5 million U.S. households use online banking services - roughly 80 percent of all households with internet access. That number represents a more than six-fold increase in popularity over the last 10 years. The number of people who use online bill payment has grown nearly eight-fold over the same time period.

The report also showed a shift in the gender and age demographics of those who used online bill payment. A customer segmentation analysis in 2002 found that men represented 61 percent of users. That majority continued until 2009, but Fiserv now says that women represent 51 percent of online bill payers. In 2002, more than half of users were also between 35 and 54. Now customers over the age of 55 make up 24 percent of online bill payers.

As the use of online banking and bill payment continues to grow across all demographics, the report found that institutions which implement efficient online banking solutions noticed increased customer loyalty - demonstrating that online banking should be a priority for inclusion in customer loyalty initiatives. Overall, 49 percent of bank customers said that banking online at their current institution made them less likely to switch banks.

Online banking customers were also increasingly likely to maintain other, more profitable accounts with the institution at which they banked online. In 2005, online banking customers were 8 percent more likely to have a savings account at the same bank. In 2010, the report found that figure had grown to 13 percent.

The differences in mortgage accounts were even more drastic. Customers were just 2 percent more likely to have a mortgage account with their bank if they used online banking in 2002. Five years later, 10 percent of online banking users have a mortgage account with the same bank.

But online banking customers are becoming much tougher to please. A recent study from ForeSee results found that overall customer satisfaction with online banking, while still excellent, dropped two points over the last year.

The study also found that larger banks - despite devoting much more resources toward their online banking solutions - scored much lower in customer satisfaction when compared with smaller credit unions.