Every industry has begun to adopt different methods that allow them to be multifaceted and universally accessible on all platforms available on the market. With this idea in mind, BT (News - Alert) conducted an online YouGov study and found one area that seemed to be lacking in this area: banks.

BT surveyed more than 6,500 people across six countries and found that the majority of users in Spain (76 percent), Hong Kong (70 percent), France (64 percent), Germany (61 percent) and the U.K. (62 percent) would prefer portable account numbers, which will make the act of transferring money between different branches easier and more efficient.  However, the biggest concern of all is developing a trusted relationship between users and banks.

Since every business depends heavily on a banking system to deliver and receive any capital related to their operations, banks have begun to adapt to the changing needs and technologies that the market has produced.

PayPal (News - Alert) has been a great leader in this new forefront as it produced an online payment method that completely revolutionized the way consumers pay and receive payments. These multimedia services allow users to send money around the world with the click of a button and without the need to disclose any financial information.

However, for million-dollar businesses that are receiving large sums of money, PayPal, although it is a universal form of payment, cannot be used, which is why online and mobile banking have become so important. Yet Germany and the U.K. did not choose online banking as their top three most-trusted banking technologies; most countries had similarly low results for online banking.

This idea of allowing users to have a portable identity numbers to switch banks without changing account details would be useful for businesses conducting international ventures or operating from a mobile device. But, with a system so deeply rooted with sensitive information, concerns over security are being raised.

"There is clearly an appetite for technology and services which help increase transparency and competition, such as number portability and richer online comparison tools. But there is also a significant level of apprehension around the creation of a shared banking infrastructure.  With any new solution that the industry moves forward with, they will need to be mindful that consumers need reassurance around security and protection of their data,” said Tom Regent, president, global banking and financial markets, BT Global Services (News - Alert).

Although countries have shown a keen interest in portable account numbers and online banking, major concerns over safety are only now being rectified, long enough for businesses to fully trust these outlets.