BofA Customers’ Online Banking Use Grows

Bank of America Corp. has shown steady growth in its online-banking and bill-pay segments over the past five years, PaymentsSource data show. The number of BofA accounts in which customers bank online as of March 31 was 29.85 million, up 129% from the 13.05 million five years earlier. Meanwhile, accounts used to pay bills online rose by 141%, to 15.08 million from 6.26 million.

Though the growth was substantial during the five-year period, BofA’s online-banking growth has slowed somewhat more recently, notes Ron Shevlin, Aite Group senior analyst. “People who are going to adopt online banking and bill pay have probably already done so,” he says.

The number of BofA accounts in which customers banked online as of March 31 was up only 3.3% from 28.89 million a year earlier. And the growth in accounts used to pay bills online was flat from a year ago.

Bank of America Corp. declined comment.

BofA’s data reflect a larger trend, which is that more consumers are using online-banking services.

A recent Fiserv Inc. Consumer Billing and Payment Trends study, released in May, found that nearly 72.5 million U.S. households with Internet access, or 80% of total households, now bank online, up 4% from 69.7 million that did in February 2009. Nearly 36.4 million households pay bills online, up 11.7% from 32.6 million a year ago (see story).