Online banking accounts in Germany are expected to increase to 32.6 million by 2007, up 11% (CAGR) from just over 20 million in 2002. Meanwhile, German online trading accounts are forecast to almost double in number from 2.7 million in 2002 to 4.8 million in 2007, according to the latest IDC findings on ebanking and eInvesting.
Growth in German online banking and investing is mainly driven by increasing Internet penetration, a revamped range of online financial offerings, and an expanding equity culture. Pension reforms will also have positive effects for online banking and online brokerage as the adoption of a new regulatory framework will translate into more German citizens becoming involved in the management of their financial investments. This legislative transformation is expected to deeply affect the financial culture in Germany, with increasing numbers of citizens investing autonomously to complement the government's social security payments.
"During the current restructuring phase, new opportunities will emerge in the German online banking and online trading markets. Online financial services will continue to increase until 2007 due to higher quality new services, healthy Web user growth, and an increasing stockholder culture. The capacity to deploy an integrated and customer-tuned multichannel system with no overlapping costs will be the successful strategy," said Mirko Corbetta, research analyst for IDC's European Online Financial Services program.
The IDC study, German eBanking and eInvesting Forecast, 2002–2007 (IDC #FB03J) analyzes German online banking and online investing and their evolution over the 2002–2007 period, examining the dynamics of major players through the current restructuring process. It provides a useful set of market indicators and recommendations as an aid to understand the market framework, size, and growth opportunities.
This IDC document provides:
A detailed overview of the market situation for ebanking and eInvesting, including the causes of low or postponed profitability, and future prospects for the German online financial services market.
An analysis of the restructuring processes that Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Bank, HVB, Entrium Bank, and Commerzbank are currently undergoing
A package of figures that explain new growth opportunities through the number of online banking and online trading accounts compared with device access and environment framework data
A set of recommendations for competitors in the German ebanking and eInvesting market on how to tune their offerings to meet the requirements of the "new" online financial customer
