Online banking is experiencing a growth spurt in Singapore, with 28.1 percent of all Internet users logging on to banking sites during May, according to new research by NetValue.

The number of visitors to local bank Web sites grew by 36 percent between Dec.2000 and May as people adopted the Net as a simpler and faster way to transfer funds, the Internet measurement company said. Between March and May of this year, the proportion of all Singapore Internet users accessing banking sites rose from 25.4 percent to 28.1 percent, NetValue data revealed. Five local banks - United Overseas Bank, DBS Bank, Overseas Union Bank, OCBC Bank, and KeppelTatLee Bank - make up the majority of online banking visits in Singapore, according to Jack Loo, country manager of NetValue (Singapore). But it's the secure Internet connections at bank sites that actually represent customers transacting online. But DBS Bank was the most visited bank Web site in Singapore. According to NetValue, Singapore's online bank customers are typically male (57.7 percent), aged between 25 and 34 (46.3 percent), and have been on the Internet since before 1997 (more than 50 percent). Three out of four own a mobile phone. NetValue also found online banking customers can be differentiated from the average Singapore Internet user. They tend to use more non-Web-based services like audio-video streaming, gaming, instant messaging, and chat.