According to the New Bank Innovation Monitor, most consumers are developing a love for online banking. In fact, several features of internet banking have been embraced by the various clients of banks worldwide. Certain features are also becoming standard across many different banks. Interestingly, the login to PNC online banking number of bank customers visiting bank branches has gone down. The next time you visit your branch and wonder where the customers have gone. Chances are, they are happily staring at their computer screens at home or at the office, looking at their accounts online.

For the third quarter of 2011, Bank Innovation Monitor found out that customers particularly liked three kinds of internet banking application: Checking account balances online, online bills payment and transferring funds between different accounts. These services were shown to have an awareness level of at least 77%. Interestingly, only 3. 8% of Americans in legal age are not aware of internet banking. This clearly shows that internet banking is becoming one of the most favored forms of banking nowadays.

According to the survey, however, consumers love the bills payment facility most of all. Traditionally, customers have not expressed any sort of “love” for the services that their banks offer. But thanks to the convenience of the bills payment facility, consumers are able to enjoy an extra level of convenience in managing their finances.

The rate of adoption of internet banking, however, has reached a plateau. This means that it is increasingly more difficult to gain new users for online banking. This is especially true with checking account balances online. According to the same survey, however, there is a big room for growth in the adoption of tools such as email alerts and text alerts, related to payments of accounts and other bank services.

The touch point now for most banks is their online banking portal. Most consumers visit their online bank portal as much as three times per week. For consumers who need to check their balances, they do so at least once a day. This also helps customers monitor their accounts for any possible fraud.

Only 11% of online banking customers have visited an online personal financial management website such as Mint. But 20% expressed the interest to visit and explore the details of such sites.

This growth in the awareness of online banking systems is expected to go higher in the next few years. Unless, of course, new trends will overtake the market. Another important trend to look out for is the use of smartphones and mobile phones in online banking. The capabilities of smartphones have increased. So, it is just expected for people to use it for their banking needs.