The local bank branch as we know it could soon be just a memory with dramatic growth in online banking and use of the internet to pay bills, a survey reveals.
Over the past year, another 1.3 million Australians signed up to do their banking over the internet.
It has been 10 years since internet banking was introduced in Australia, and there are now 8.2 million Australians aged 16 and over going online to manage their money, equivalent to 52 per cent of the population.
The Commonwealth Bank's second e-money survey has found that Australians log into their bank accounts on average twice a week.
Checking balances
The most common reasons for logging in are checking on account balances, checking transaction histories and transferring funds between various accounts.
As well as paying bills, Australians use the internet to pay credit card bills (66 per cent), pay for travel or holidays (60 per cent), pay for entertainment (58 per cent), transfer money to family and friends (57 per cent), and arrange international money transfers (24 per cent).
Almost 40 per cent of Australians prefer online banking to other forms of banking.
Just 27 per cent opt to visit a branch, 20 per cent like using ATMs and just 12 per cent advocate telephone banking.
Last year's survey found that Australians in regional and rural areas preferred to go to their local branches to do their banking, but this year it found there was an equal preference for branch banking and online banking.
