Report on the internet economy In focus: The financial sector I. 2006 (Summary for the press)

2006. 11. 19.

Number of mobile banking customers still growing rapidly

In association with Sun Microsystems Hungary, GKIeNET Internet Research and Consulting Ltd. and T-Mobile conduct quarterly surveys on corporate internet usage and the development of the electronic economy in Hungary. The present report outlines the position of the financial sector in the internet economy.

I. SUMMARY

  • At the end of the fourth quarter in 2005, more than one million individual customers and almost 93 thousand corporate customers had mobile banking agreements with domestic credit institutions.
  • The number of customers increased by 56% in the household segment and by 43% in the corporate sector over the past year.
  • At December 31, 2005, 65 thousand web cards (cards used exclusively for online payments) were in circulation, up 88% from a year earlier.

 

II.SURVEY FINDINGS

Mobile banking

At December 31, 2005, more than one million individual customers and almost 93 thousand corporate customers had mobile banking agreements (including SMS notifications and interactive mobile phone banking services). The number of individual mobile banking customers rose by 15% over the past three months and by 56% year-on-year. The number of corporate customers increased by 10% in the past quarter and by 43% over the past twelve months.

At the end of the fourth quarter, individual mobile banking customers accounted for 16.6% of all customers at banks offering mobile banking services, while businesses using mobile banking services accounted for 15.9% of all corporate customers at these banks.

GKIeNET projects that the number of individual mobile banking customers could be close to 1.3 million by the end of 2006.

Number and percentage of individual customers with mobile banking accounts

2006-i-jelentes-mobil_eng


Web cards

Internet commerce could be stimulated by virtual bank cards which can be used exclusively for online purchases. Customers making purchases over the internet have the option of avoiding the risk of identity theft by using a special web card number. The account holder is able to change the amount available for online purchases at any time, mostly transferring a specific amount of money immediately prior to the actual transaction.

At December 31, 2005, approximately 65 thousand web cards (banking cards specifically used for payments over the internet) were in circulation. This figure reflects an 8% rise from the previous quarter and an increase of 88% from the same period of the previous year. The number of web cards is rising constantly, but it is still low compared with the total population or with the number of banking cards.


Number of virtual web cards

2005-iv-jelentes-webkartyak_eng

III. ABOUT THE SURVEY

The survey was conducted in March 2006 within the financial sector by means of questionnaires, prompting credit institutions to share their data from the fourth quarter of 2005 as well as their future expectations. Banks were represented at 61% in terms of total assets.