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Majority of online users use Internet for financial purpose: Ipsos
MUMBAI: Around 57 Majority of Indian Internet users (57 per cent) prefer to check bank account and other financial holdings online, reveals a recent research carried out by global research firm Ipsos.
Accessing information on the net on products and services that people are thinking of buying comes second at 53 per cent while half 50 per cent shop for products online and more than four in ten (42 per cent) have surfed to look for jobs in the last three months.
Ipsos India head of marketing communication Biswarup Banerjee said, “Online banking has made things much easier for the people and it saves a lot of time. It has eliminated the hassle of traditional way of banking where one had to stand in the queue and fill up several forms.”
“Most of the banks in India have introduced customer friendly online banking facility with advance security features to protect its customers against cybercrime. The easy registration process for net banking has improved customers access to several banking products, increased customer loyalty, facilitated money transfer to any banks across India and has helped banks to attract new customers,” he added.
Banking and keeping track of finances, shopping and searching for jobs are the main tasks of Internet users around the globe. Nearly 60 per cent of people in 24 countries used the web to check their bank account and other financial assets in the past 90 days, making it the most popular use of the Internet.
Also, according to the Ipsos poll globally 41 per cent people went online in search of a job.
Around 48 per cent people used Internet in past three months ‘to buy products or services online‘. For the same, 50 per cent Indians used Internet while Germany and Great Britain have the highest percentage (74 percent each) of people buying products and services online.
“It is telling that the top four countries are all traditionally developed western countries,” said Banerjee. “It‘s really been under 10 years that this technology has been around.”
Almost 61 per cent people have searched the web for information about products they are thinking about buying. Online shopping was the least popular in Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Hungary and Russia, where 28 per cent or fewer people buy online.
Polls were the most likely to log on to look for a job, with 61 per cent searching online for work, followed by Hungarians, South Africans and Mexicans. But only 17 per cent of Japanese and a quarter of South Koreans and French have chosen the web for their job search.
Banerjee noted that the findings shadow very closely the number of people who said they knew someone who has lost or is looking for a job. “For almost all of them (countries) it mirrors who has the most job anxiety,” he added.
The poll revealed that older people, between 50-64 years of age, with higher incomes and education were the most likely to do their banking online, online shoppers were also better educated and bigger earners. But about half of online job searchers were under 35 years old, unmarried and had smaller incomes.
Ipsos interviewed 19,216 adults in India, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United States.
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
