More than a half (59%) of all Britons now do the majority of their banking over the Internet, new research has found.

The research from Alliance and Leicester also revealed that a third of UK adults (29%) now do Internet banking once or twice a week, and 12% use it once a day

And the research results also showed that there had been a 63% rise in managing current accounts online since 2003, with checking balances the most popular online activity for 30% of banking customers.

Andy Muddimer, Head of Internet Banking at Alliance & Leicester, said: “The pressures of modern life mean that internet banking is the best option for many UK banking customers.

“As we see the internet become increasingly important in other aspects of our daily lives, from reading the news, booking a holiday or simply making a purchase we would otherwise not have the time to do, then we can expect internet banking to become even more popular as the key way of managing our finances.”

Yet the research found that, for activities like paying in cheques, the local branch remains the favourite means of accessing a bank.