Online banking surges

Nearly half of all U.S. adult Internet users now manage their bank accounts online, making banking the fastest-growing online activity, according to a survey released on Wednesday.

Forty-four percent of U.S. Internet users bank online, up from 30 percent two years ago, the Pew Internet and American Life Project said.

Fifty-three million people, or 44% of internet users and one-quarter of all adults, now say they use online banking. Those figures amount to an increase of 47% over the number of Americans who were performing online banking in late 2002. Of all the major internet activities tracked by the Project since its inaugural survey in March 2000, online banking has grown the fastest. Internet users with high-speed connections, those with six or more years of experience, and those between 28-39 years old are the most likely to bank online.

The nonprofit group said banking has grown faster than any other online activity since it began measuring Internet use in March 2000.