Individual differences in private banking: empirical evidence from Finland

The financial industry can nowadays be viewed as a battlefield where the players are keenly planning new ways to achieve competitive advantage. Besides increasing competition and change, the current trend in private banking has been the consumer movement from traditional branch banking to stand-alone, online banking. This paper examines the uptake of online banking by the use of a survey (1167 responses) conducted during the summer of 2000 in Finland. The main results of the study indicate that while the diffusion of electronic delivery channels has been rapid, the management of digital customer relationships has become of key importance. By comparing different types of bank customers and by evaluating their perceptions of technology and delivery channels, it can be argued that nonusers of online banking might be most loyal segment whereas online banking users can be considered more likely to change their banks.