On-line banking conducted via a household’s or a small business’ personal computer has obvious possible implications for the reasonableness of using a local geographic market. While current usage of PC banking is too small to affect our methodology significantly, in my judgment this is clearly an area that we need to monitor and study, and, if necessary, be prepared to adapt our procedures accordingly.
In this regard, I would note that good data on the use of PC banking by households and small businesses is a must. Electronic banking raises similar issues for our evaluation of the Community Reinvestment Act performance of banks. Here again, a fundamental aspect of our current approach is definition of the relevant geographic area.