North West leading the rise of online banking

The North West has embraced online and phone banking more than anywhere else in the UK.

A survey by UK payments association Apacs has revealed that 55 per cent of adults in the North West use phone or internet banking compared to 46 per cent in Yorkshire, the Humber and Scotland where take-up is lowest.

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Across England, Scotland and Wales, Apacs found that the use of online banking has inched up two per cent during the course of 2008.

An Apacs spokeswoman told silicon.com the advent of online banking is helping to protect Britons against fraud by giving them greater awareness of what money is entering and leaving their account.

"With the introduction of the Faster Payments Service [consumers are] now not only going to be using online banking for checking their statements but they'll also be making a payment to someone. It's really a sign of the times," she added.

While consumers may be increasingly managing their money through electronic means, the cheque is still not dead. According to Apacs, 37 per cent of us regularly use cheques for "spontaneous payments". However, cheque use is still dropping with a one per cent year-on-year decline.

People in the North East appear to be the biggest user of physical cash with an average per person of 76 withdrawals per year, while Scots withdraw the most cash from the wall on average - £5,650 per year per person.

The average British adult withdraws around £3,839 per year from cash machines.