Home banking has started to catch on with Italians, but those who have taken to it the most are older, rather than younger. According to the Italian Banking Association (ABI), although 35 percent of home-banking clients in Italy are 35 years and younger, the majority of new home-banking clients in 2009 were over 55. Over the last few years, Italy’s Internet banking sector has grown, on average, 11 percent each year. The 55-to-64 age group represents 16 percent of users, and those ages 65 to 74 represent 25 percent of home-banking clients in Italy.
‘E-banking, which has always been popular among the younger generations, and has opened up to a whole new set of clients. No longer viewed with “hostility,” online banking is now being considered, even among older clients, to be the most convenient way to simplify their lives,’ the ABI reported in a recent study.
According to ABI, most e-banking clients are educated (48 percent have a secondary school degree and 20 percent have a university degree), two thirds of clients are men, and the majority of clients live in northern Italy.
