A recent survey by US-based e-commerce consultancy Gartner found that when asked to indicate the importance of 18 different online banking features, both US and UK consumers ranked security the top feature, followed by single sign-on.

All ranked highly the ability to deposit funds online from home and the ability to set up a separate account to save up for a specific goal. Other top-ranking features included the ability to set up alerts for account and credit card balances and the ability to analyse spending and cash flow.

Gartner found that younger online banking consumers value features that enable customisation of their online banking experience, while older customers seek tools that let them use current services more effectively or communicate better.

Further analysis indicated that older consumers want features that make the online banking channel itself easier to use, while younger consumers are looking for additional financial planning tools to help them manage their money more effectively.

Once new online banking features are available, banks also need to ensure that customers are aware of them - high percentages of consumers surveyed report that they were not aware that the features that they consider very important were available from their bank.

“The survey showed that banks and customers want very different things on a bank’s web site,” said research director Stessa Cohen. “Banks that neglect personalisation trends now will sacrifice online - and possibly mobile - banking customers later.”