At least 22 million adults in the United Kingdom, or 53% of the country’s 41.4 million regular Internet users, banked online in 2009, according to Financial Fraud Action UK, a trade group for the payments industry. Last year represented the first time the percentage of UK online-banking users exceeded 50% of regular Internet users, the trade group said Tuesday.



Meanwhile, the number of UK consumers initiating banking tasks by phones fell 9.9% in 2009, to 14.5 million from 16.1 million in 2005, the trade group says. The group reached its conclusion via surveys and market research.

Among the consumers who use online banking, 95% use banking Web sites to check account balances, the most popular online banking activity in the UK, the trade group says.



But many consumers still prefer to bank by phone. “Phone banking still remains a popular way for people to enquire about their account, with more than six in ten phone-banking customers using the service in this manner,” the group adds in a statement.