世論 What Japan Thinks

[part 1] [part 2]

goo Research recently carried out a massive opinion poll to investigate how people in Japan use internet banking.In cooperation with NTT Resonance and Mitsubishi Research Institute they surveyed 43,074 members of the goo Research internet monitor group and ordinary goo users. This public poll was conducted for two weeks in the middle of October, with 56.0% of the respondents female. 2.2% were in their teens, 23.3% in their twenties, 40.4% in their thirties, 23.8% in their forties, 7.8% in their fifties, 2.1% in their sixties, and just 0.4% over seventy.

It seems that both conventional banks’ net services and net-only banks do not give any significant discounts on transaction fees – Japan still has lots of fees for doing almost anything outside working hours or more complicated than withdrawning money – but even with that worries about security, which is probably as much due to perceptions as actual danger, need to be addressed to give potential customers the assurance that the services are safe.

Q7: Have you bought goods or services (including auctions) over the internet? (Sample size=43,074)

Frequently	28.1%
Sometimes	60.3%
Never	11.6%

Q8: For those who have bought over the internet, how did you pay for these services? (Sample size=38,086, multiple answer)

Credit card	55.3%
Internet banking	54.7%
Pay by ATM or bank counter	37.1%
Cash on delivery	36.4%
Convenience store	29.0%
Other	2.1%

Q9: For those who purchased but did not pay by net banking, why did you choose not to? (Sample size=17,252, multiple answer)

Too much trouble to apply for a new internet banking service	39.5%
Worried about leakage of personal information by internet banks	37.7%
Worried if the goods would really be delivered, so wanted to pay cash on delivery	20.8%
My bank doeesn’t have an internet banking service	6.3%
I didn’t know about internet banking	4.1%
Other	18.6%

Q10: What do you hope to be improved regarding ordinary banks’ internet banking payment settlement services? (Sample size=43,074, multiple answer)

Decrease fees for outgoing transactions	73.2%
Strengthen internet security	57.4%
Bank takes measures to address damages from phishing, etc	42.7%
Simplify procedures for opening new accounts (eg mailing documents not needed)	17.7%
Simplify ID and password management	11.5%
Receiving party’s data entry procedures become unnecessary	7.9%
Whatever they improve I don’t want to use	5.3%
Other	3.2%

Q11: What do you hope to be improved regarding internet-only banks’ payment settlement services? (Sample size=43,074, multiple answer)

Decrease fees for outgoing transactions	60.4%
Strengthen internet security	47.0%
Increase the number of ATMs for withdrawing and depositing cash	35.1%
Bank takes measures to address damages from phishing, etc	30.9%
Prompty dispatch instruction manuals	10.1%
Automatical payment of utilities bills	9.7%
Simplify procedures for opening new accounts (eg mailing documents not needed)	9.3%
Simplify ID and password management	8.8%
Receiving party’s data entry procedures become unnecessary	6.5%
Whatever they improve I don’t want to use	7.0%
Other	2.5%

Q12: What do you hope to be improved regarding internet banking financial products and services? (Sample size=43,074, multiple answer)

	Ordinary bank	Internet-only bank
Strengthen internet security	44.4%	41.5%
Better interest rates when applying online	43.9%	41.4%
Lower transaction fees or better interest rates for using online services	37.5%	31.9%
Bank takes measures to address damages from phishing, etc	28.1%	27.4%
Discounted transaction fees for using a sequence of related features	24.0%	19.7%
Support purchasing lottery and sports pools, etc	10.8%	8.8%
24 hour live telephone service	9.6%	8.0%
Quick reply to emailed questions	9.4%	7.7%
Establish a site with detailed description of net-based financial products and services	5.7%	6.2%
Whatever they improve I don’t want to use	11.2%	14.6%
Other	1.4%	1.2%

[part 1] [part 2]