Nationwide is forecasting that the number of subscribers to its online banking service will break through the 600,000 mark later this week.
With new registrations averaging 1700 a day, the figure of 600,000 is almost certain to be reached on St Valentine's Day (Wednesday 14 February), says the UK building society.
Nationwide passed another milestone in January, when the number of visits to its Web site topped one million. The previous monthly high was November last year, when the figure was 832,000.
Jim Willens, Nationwide's e-commerce director, says: "We have almost six times the number of members registered for online banking now than we did 12 months ago, which is reflected in the growing number of visitors to our Web site.
"May 2001 will be the fourth anniversary of Nationwide launching internet banking in the UK. By then, I confidently expect to see around three-quarters of a million people banking online with Nationwide," he says.