A survey from KPMG has revealed that Australian banks continue to be reluctant to invest in online banking developments. Some banks have only spent a few thousand dollars on developing their services for deployment on the internet. According to the KPMG Internet HomeBanking Survey, many banks are waiting for an upsurge in demand before they devote significant resources to the area. The banks displayed a marked lack of consensus in their views on what the internet as a distribution channel will mean to their retail business, John Buttle, KPMG’s Banking & Finance Industry chairman told the Australian Financial Review. The survey looked at 12 banks, and found 80% believed the internet will deliver benefits, but not for 3-5 years. Only four banks offered online transactions. The larger banks feared competition from internet content providers; the small banks feared competition from the large banks; but there was scant concern for competition from retailers and utilities. Whether or not to charge for internet transactions received a mixed response, and not all banks commented on this.
