Internet banking on crest of wave

By RICHARD BRADDELL

WELLINGTON - Internet banking, once the sole preserve of ASB and its BankDirect offshoot, has taken off, with all major banks now operating sites.

At the end of March, 118,985 people had embraced the concept, consultants KPMG said yesterday, releasing previously unavailable data. Growth seems to be exponential.

Already, a further 16,000 have signed with the WestpacTrust service, which went live at the weekend after a six-week trial, taking total users to more than 135,000.

"It appears we are surfing the crest of an Internet wave," said chief executive Tom Gallagher, announcing WestpacTrust's service.

The chairman of KPMG's banking and finance group, Andrew Dinsdale, said the launch of the Bank of New Zealand's site late last year had benefited not just itself, but the ASB, which pioneered Internet services more than two years ago.

KPMG said ASB and DirectBank led Internet banking, with 52,000 customers; followed by ANZ, 26,985; National Bank, 22,500; and BNZ, 22,500.

National has taken a relatively low-key approach to its Internet business, which it inherited with its takeover of Countrywide Bank.

Mr Dinsdale said financial institutions that failed to exploit Internet potential risked being overtaken by those which understood the implications of e-commerce.

"More than 50 per cent of New Zealanders have access to the Internet and 34 per cent use it on a regular basis.

"The emergence of 'knowledge consumers' has shifted the power in relationships from the supplier to the buyer. Consumer loyalty has lessened as alternatives are literally only a click away."

He said that, with the exception of ASB, New Zealand financial institutions were two to three years behind their international counterparts.