Banks and insurance companies are continuing to make major investments in e-commerce, but without focus and "strategic context" this is a risky course of action, a new report has warned.

The report, Technology in Financial Serivces, says that with e-commerce channels radically reshaping the financial services market, the key to future success will be to understand how technology can help companies build customer value.

The report, which surveyed more than 100 financial services companies worldwide, found that respondent companies were forecasting that by 2002 around 14 per cent of total technology spend will be on e-commerce. Over half said PC-Internet will be the most important area of technology spending for them, compared to 1 per cent for ATMS and 13 per cent for telephone service centres. More than one quarter (27 per cent) said the main aim of e-commerce initiatives was customer retention.