UK Internet Banking Users Up 500% Since 2000

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The number of people banking online in the UK grew by 505 percent from 3.5 million in 2000 to just over 21 million in 2007, according to APACS. The UK payments association says that over half of all British Internet users now bank online.

“In the future, we expect more and more people to use online banking to make payments rather than just checking balances, particularly in light of the recent launch of the UK’s Faster Payments Service (FPS),” Sandra Quinn, director of communications at APACS, says.

FPS enables customers to make one-off payments over the Internet or by phone within hours, whereas the UK’s previous bank-to-bank transfer system took three days.

“APACS urges banking customers to be wary of scams such as unsolicited emails claiming to be from their bank, and to only use a fully-protected PC with regularly updated anti-virus software and a firewall installed and switched on,” Quinn says.

APACS has published Banking Safely Online, which reminds online banking customers of the need to stay vigilant and follow simple safety procedures when banking online.

Although UK online banking fraud losses fell by 33 percent to £22.6 million (US$44.78 million) in 2007 from £33.5 million in 2006, the number of phishing scams continues to increase. In the first half of 2008, the number of reported phishing attacks against UK banks and building societies rose by 180 percent year-on-year to 20,682 from 7,224.

A sign of a phishing email is that it is addressed to “Dear Valued Customer,” rather than to the recipient personally, APACS says. Phishers have only very limited information about their recipients, such as their email addresses.

APACS says recipients should never reply to a phishing email, as they then risk being targeted with a virus attack.