Responses from a recent Web-based survey show that a large number of consumers have shopped for online financial products, including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, mortgages and insurance. According to the survey, consumers' interests for online financial service rank only behind their interest in online shopping for consumer products. The survey also suggests consumers consistently seek the Internet as a source when shopping for financial products. The survey, conducted during the weeks of November 9 and 16 by Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU), featured responses from more than 1,800 consumers who visited Intuit's finance site, Quicken.com.
Intuit conducted the survey as part of its preparations for the Bank Administration Institute's Retail Delivery Conference, which will take place next week in Las Vegas, Nevada from Nov. 30 to Dec. 4. More than 3,500 financial services industry professionals will be attending to find out how to compete for profits in the new world of financial services.
Other survey findings suggest consumers are feeling more confident about the resources and information available to them over the Internet. According to the survey, a large number of these consumers use the Internet to obtain financial management tools and advice, to shop for consumer goods, and to track stocks, bonds and mutual funds. Two out of three people surveyed who already used a form of online banking to manage their finances feel they will access their financial information electronically much more often as more easy to use services and functionality become available.
The survey also suggests that as consumer confidence builds, people will look to the Internet as a powerful resource to manage their personal finances, further confirmation for financial institutions that have invested in online services with Intuit.
At RDS, Intuit will be featuring Quicken.com's sophisticated financial management tools at kiosks throughout the showroom floor and in the Entry Pavilion. Additionally, attendees filling out a survey posted to Quicken.com at the show will automatically be entered in a free drawing for a chance to win a Palm Pilot handheld electronic organizer. On Dec. 2, Bill Harris, Intuit's president and CEO, will discuss the company's insights into personal finance and money management in the era of Web finance. In his presentation entitled, "Intuit's Learnings from Launching Quicken.com," Harris will discuss financial services on the Web and how banks and other financial services companies can attract and retain the exploding market of Web-literate and finance conscious customers.
