Savers watch the pennies; Now television banking looks set to change the way we view our finances.

Byline: CLARE VINCENT

PUB landlady Jan Kearney is pioneering the new wave of banking - she is one of the first people to open a digital television bank account.

The 49-year-old from Aylesbury, Bucks, hit her remote control to sign up with Abbey National's SOFA banking last week, when it opened for business.

By 2004, according to the Chartered Institute of Bankers, more than half of all customers will forsake branches for more high-tech forms of banking.

Of these, 10pc will use television banking.

Abbey National and HSBC are the only two major banks which are currently offering interactive television banking, although Barclays is taking part in a pilot in Manchester run by Cable & Wireless.

Users can view information on the bank's products on their screen, but Barclays customers cannot yet see details of their own account.

The bank plans to introduce more facilities early next year.

Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB and Bank of Scotland say they have no plans to launch anything in this area at the moment.

But the service has proved invaluable to Jan.

'Nowhere is open when I want to do my banking,' she says. 'I opened the account at 1.30am after I finished work.' Jan, who is married to Pat, 44, can request information and arrange for someone to call back at her convenience - all from her living room.

From next spring, she can see her balance, organise money transfers, pay bills and apply for overdrafts. 'It is convenient and we have access straightaway, rather than having to buy a computer to do our banking over the internet,' she says.

For Abbey National or HSBC's television banking, you need to subscribe to BSkyB. For this you will need digital TV equipment including a set-top box and dish.

There's a [pounds sterling]40 connection fee. HSBC customers can check balances and transactions.

By February they will also be able to pay bills and transfer money.

* THIS week also sees the launch of a new internet personal loan and flexible mortgage service from National Australia Group.

Customers using the service, called Vivid, will receive final approval on loan applications in seven minutes and provisional approval of mortgage applications in less than ten minutes.