Online sales at HSBC shot up by 55 per cent in 2006 as more personal and business customers tuned into the benefits of banking on the web.

In total the bank's web sites handled 1.8 billion visits in 2006, HSBC group chief executive Michael Geoghegan told the bank's annual general meeting this week.

'The power of the internet, and the desire of customers to be serviced 24/7, is leading us to focus on improving our direct propositions,' he said.

Geoghegan says the bank will build on the sucess of its online direct savings accounts in the US and UK, by rolling out the proposition in key markets around the world, beginning with Taiwan and Korea.

'In a very real sense, we intend to build the first global direct bank where branches will also remain an important form of distribution but complemented by other channels, in response to our customers' changing tastes,' he said.

Geoghegan pointed to the recent £1.1bn sales and leaseback of the bank's head office building in London as an example of how technology is changing the way HSBC operates.

'Not only was this sensible management of our property portfolio, but it also gives us flexibility as technology changes the way people work,' he said.