Web Banks In Trouble: Formerly all-click banks are laying down brickwork.(Industry Trend or...

The euphoria that surrounded pure Internet banks when they first burst on the scene in the mid-1990s is dissipating fast. Many virtual organizations are discovering that the Internet is not a panacea for financial services, but rather a wedge of the pie they must serve to their customers -at least while they wait for the Net generation to grow up. In fact, Web-only institutions have captured only 1% to 2% of the roughly 19 million regular online banking customer market.

Last month, BTN reported on New York-based Citigroup Inc.'s decision to collapse Citi f/i, its Inter