Online Banking Use Up, Satisfaction Down (Slightly) Survey Shows

Online banking is alive and well, according to the comScore 2010 State of Online Banking report, which is based on a panel of one million U.S. Internet users and a survey of more than 2,500 U.S. internet users. More than 58 million Americans bank online, and in any given quarter, nearly 60 percent of the total U.S. internet population visits at least one of the top 20 financial institution sites.Online banking customer satisfaction dropped slightly in the past year, the study found. In 2010, 70 percent of respondents reported being satisfied with their primary bank, versus 71% the year before. But banks continue to have a better satisfaction rate than credit cards (U.S. consumer satisfaction with their credit cards fell from 62 percent to 60 percent in 2010) and brokerages, which saw their satisfaction rate increase from 58 percent last year to 64 percent this year.

Credit unions and community banks tend to have slightly happier customers, yet their websites get lower marks than banks'. Credit union customer satisfaction is 75 percent overall, but CU websites get a 63 percent score. Community banks' customer satisfaction grade is 75 percent but their websites are at 64 percent.

Another finding of the latest comScore survey is that almost half (48 percent) of respondents use more than one financial institution. "Clearly, retaining customers will continue to be one of the most important challenges facing the banking industry in the coming year," the report concludes.

Online bill payment has taken a leap in popularity: it's now used by 64 percent of the online banking community, up 19 points from the previous year. Among the 36 percent who don't use online bill payment, one-third are worried about security, 22 percent still prefer to have the monthly reminder of a paper statement to pay their bills, and 14 percent of respondents fear they won't have enough money in their account to cover future payments. (But this is progress - last year, 38 percent of respondents cited this as a reason for not enrolling.)

On the related personal financial management front, online banking users seem mildly intrigued by these "social money" sites - 30 percent said they would like their financial institution to make PFM features available on its site - but unaware of the PFM options out there. Only 10 percent knew of specific PFM sites and only 4 percent actually used any of these sites. "Because awareness of these solutions remains low, those hoping to enter the market will need to educate consumers and increase awareness if they hope to gain traction," the report suggests.

Asked what would make them want to engage with their banks through social media sites, 22 percent said exclusive online shopping promotions, another 22 percent said exclusive promotions as specific retailers, and 18 percent selected "online customer service related to your account." So essentially bank customers are interested in saving money or resolving bank customer service issues on the social media sites they use such as Facebook and Twitter.