We’ve identified 50 North American banks, credit unions, and credit card issuers with registered user bases in excess of 100,000, up from 43 last year. Eighteen of the 50 have passed the 1 million mark . These companies have a total combined registered user base of just under 100 million. We estimate that as many as 35% of these accounts are inactive (no usage in the last 6 months) and that each household is registered with an average of 2 financial providers. That works out to approximately 32 million unique active households served by the 50 largest companies, an 80+% share of the 35 to 40 million North American households banking or paying bills online.

On the credit union side, we have identified 73 with user bases in excess of 25,000 members using Web banking (Table 1, below), up from 51 last year. In total, more than 4.5 million members are banking online at these credit unions, 31% of the total membership base of nearly 15 million. The Web banking base grew 1.0 million (29%) from 3.5 million a year earlier.

Table 1

Credit Union 25,000 Club (North America)

estimated registered user base for Web banking¹

Source: NCUA 11/02; Callahan, 11/02; Online Banking Reports estimates (e) +/- 25%
(1) Web banking users only, does not include any members banking online through older direct-dial systems

(2) As of 6/30/02; 9/30/02 report showed inconsistent decline, which we are investigating

(3) Does not include approximately 10,000 dial-up users

(4) As of 12/31/01; no report for 9/30/01

Table 2
Financial Institution 100,000 Club (North America)

estimated online banking registered user base¹

Notes: (1) Definitions of registered users vary by bank, but in general the figure listed is the most generous estimate of all customers signed up for online banking, not necessarily using the service; company reports may reflect totals as far back as Q1 2002, see notes column; (2) Worldwide total; there are no recent figures available on the geographic breakdown of its user base, but on 9/30/01 the company reported that more than 700,000 users residing outside of North America (3) Includes brokerage accounts which numbered 1.7 million in April 2000; (4) Worldwide total, includes an estimated 15% to 20% who reside outside North America (5) Includes brokerage accounts which numbered 230,000 in April 2000; (6) Assumes 65% of registered user base is active (used within last 6 months); (7) Assumes each household is registered with 2 financial companies on this list (1.75 in 2001; 1.5 in 2000)