Online banking's most wanted revealed

Consumers have revealed the online banking feature they value above all others: security.

According to research from analyst house Gartner, the ability to conduct business and transactions securely is the most important feature for internet banking users in the UK and US.

Single sign-on, the ability to set up a new account to save up for something specific, and being able to create alerts for account and credit card balances also rated highly, the research found.

However, banks might be hiding their lights under a bushel - according to Gartner, "high percentages" of users didn't know their favoured features were actually offered by their bank.

There also appears to be a difference between what customers want online and what their banks are giving them, according to Stessa Cohen, research director at Gartner.

"The survey showed that banks and customers want very different things on a bank’s website. Customers want to personalise their experiences, analyse their transaction and payment data, so they can better manage their money, pay bills and transfer funds. Banks want to sell customers more products. Banks that neglect personalisation trends now will sacrifice online — and possibly mobile — banking customers later," she said in a statement.