important driver for banks which have left the e commerce trial phase at the beginning of e 

commerce diffusion. Banks in Denmark, the US and even Germany assess the benefits of e 

commerce in the field of automation and increasing efficiency by using economy of scale effects 

as an important driver of e commerce investments. E commerce as an enabler to expand 

markets, to enter new business areas or to improve the coordination with suppliers and customers 

are also seen as important drivers, especially by Danish and American banks. In these areas, 

German and French banks rank these factors also as very important in comparison to other 

factors, but still below the leading nations. 

The governmental contribution to the diffusion of e commerce does not seem to be important in 

all the surveyed countries. With the exception of France, where online business with the 

government seems to require e commerce standards, banks do not assess the impact of the 

government as a driving factor.  

FIGURE 26  E banking Related Drivers in the Banking Sector 

4

3.5

3

2.5

2

1.5

1

Customers 

Major

Supplier 

To reduce 

To expand  To enter new  To improve 

Required  Government 

Average

demand it

competitors  required it

costs

market

business

coordinating

for 

provided 

were online

 with 

government  incentives

customers  procurement

and 

suppliers

Denmark

France

Germany

USA

Source: CRITO Global E Commerce Survey, 2002; results are weighted by total number of establishments in banking/finance 

sector by size of firm. 

Aside from the e commerce drivers, the questionnaire also investigates the most important 

barriers to doing business online (Figure 27). Analogous to Figure 26, a five point scale was 

used, where 1 corresponds to  not an obstacle  and 5 to  a very significant obstacle.   

Interestingly, banks in the US rated the obstacles highest on average. While the need for 

customer face to face interaction is not an important obstacle in Germany or France, American 

and Danish banks rate this obstacle as an important barrier. American banks, followed by French 

and German ones, regard security reasons as an important obstacle. While the obstacles in the 

field of customer support and a lack of e commerce skilled staff are more or less equal in these 

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