According to a recent report by Datamonitor, there will be 66.2 million active online bank accounts in Europe by 2003, up from 26.1 million in 2000. Growth is expected to be greatest in Southern Europe and in France where currently uptake of online banking has been slower than elsewhere in Europe.
Currently Sweden is leading the way with 44% of Internet users banking online, Germany is second with 34% and Spain is next with 29 percent. Internet users in France and the UK are slower to make use of online banking services with 20% and 16% respectivly, significantly below the European average of 31% (although more in keeping with the US average of 18%)
Significant players in the European online banking market, according to Datamonitor, are the Scandinavian bank NBH, Egg, BNP-Paribas, Barclays and Spanish bank BSCH.
