Personal clients transacted 678.1 billion yuan (US$87.6 billion) via e-banking to trade in securities markets last year, accounting for half of the total personal e-banking transactions, it said in an email press release.

The branch recorded extremely active personal transactions to the securities markets in the second half of last year, which nearly doubled that of the first. Shanghai had 19.8 million personal e-banking clients by the end of 2006, 99.69 percent of whom were registered with Chinese banks.

Almost 97 percent of personal clients preferred to do banking over the phone rather than clicking online, said the branch.

The increase of company e-banking business clients was steady in 2006, given an expanding rate of 11.34 percent in the first six months and 15.87 percent in the second.

Almost 96 percent of the 326,700 company clients have registered with Chinese banks, said the branch.

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