Celebrating a milestone: RBC honours 5 millionth online banking client

TORONTO, Today RBC marked a milestone by honouring Jane Caissie as its 5 millionth online banking client. When Ms. Caissie, 61, enrolled in RBC Royal Bank online banking, she wanted to regain some independence after hip surgeries from consecutive injuries forced her to explore other ways of accomplishing her daily activities.

“I’m old-fashioned by nature and technology intimidates me. I just prefer talking to people face to face,” said Ms. Caissie. “My daughter had been talking to me about online banking for the past year. Maybe it was my injuries or the fact that she is moving, I just knew it was time to try it. I’m surprised how easy it was to sign up. At first, my daughter watched me pay bills to ensure I was doing things right. Now I wonder why I waited so long to try banking online.”

Ms. Caissie was presented with a $500 cash prize as the honourary 5 millionth online banking client, which she says will help her save for a long-awaited trip to Hawaii. She is part of a growing trend of Canadians who explore online banking as a lifestyle choice or imperative in their later years.

In fact, Boomers aged sixty and over have formed the fastest growing segment of online banking clients at RBC, representing 86 per cent growth over the past six years. This is followed by the 51 to 59 age group representing 33 per cent growth for the same time period. The highest percentage of all of our online banking clients at RBC comes from Western Canada, from Alberta, followed by British Columbia. And more women (51.1 per cent) than men (48.5 per cent) bank online with RBC.

“The ability to manage your finances and have so much of your own bank information at your fingertips without leaving your home is probably one of the biggest developments in the last decade. We hear from people all the time who tell us how dramatically this has changed their lives,” said James McGuire, vice-president, Online Strategy. “Whether it’s out of necessity, a matter of convenience, or a way to save on transaction costs, online banking offers an economical and practical solution for doing your everyday banking and more.”

Convenience is another reason people have been turning to online banking at an increasing rate. Since electronic statements were first introduced to personal banking clients in July 2006, over 3.2 million RBC accounts have switched to eStatements saving approximately 511 metric tonnes of paper. New services within online banking such as RBC International Remittance, allows clients to send the equivalent of up to $1,000 CAD a day overseas for $13.50 per transaction. The new Pay Multiple Bills feature allows client to pay up to 10 bills at once, for only one transaction fee.

What does the future of online banking hold? According to Mr. McGuire, it will be more of the personal touch, which should make new online banking clients like Ms. Caissie very pleased. “There will be an array of opportunities for clients to interact directly with a bank representative at different points of their online banking experience, and this could one day include video conversations,” Mr. McGuire added. “For example, clients may have questions while completing an application or need some timely advice. While we currently offer live chat on our public information websites, our intent is to expand this service into online banking.”