42% of online users applied for loans online, 83% applied for credit cards online

Yahoo! and Compete studied the behavior of 76,000 financial services searchers from September 2004 to February 2005. 28% of the financial services searchers went on to open deposit accounts within four weeks, while 26% applied for a credit card within four weeks, and 8% applied for a loan within six weeks. 56% of the consumers who opened checking accounts after conducting a search did so at a branch office, while 38% of those who opened savings accounts did so in person. 42% applied for loans online. An additional 36% went to a branch office to apply, while 22% did so by telephone. When it came to applying for credit cards, 83% did so online. Only 5% went in person to a branch office, while 12% completed the deal on the telephone.