The West Coast bank, which was the first US bank to hit the two million online customer mark last March, says it is signing up approximately 130,000 new online banking customers a month.

"It took us over 10 years to reach two million online banking customers and only nine months to add one million more," says Jeanine Brown, Bank of America interactive banking executive.

She says the bank's online customers are increasingly choosing to receive and pay their bills over the Internet as well. More than 750,000 customers have signed up for the bank's electronic billing and payment service, says Brown, and the total dollar value of payments processed grew 36% last year. In October, a record 3.1 million electronic bill payments were made, totaling more than $1 billion, states the bank.

As part of its strategic growth plan for e-commerce, the bank is partnering with leading technology firms - such as Ariba, BroadVision, CheckFree and 724 Solutions - in the design and development of four portals to meet the specific needs of consumers, small businesses, corporate and commercial clients, and Bank of America employees.

"We're creating Internet portals that will enable our customers, clients and employees to get what they need to make their financial lives easier, help businesses become more successful or make work environments more productive," says James Dixon, bankofamerica.com executive. "In conjunction with our existing e-commerce capabilities, alliances with best-of-breed companies allow us to develop these portals faster and more efficiently."