To say that 2013 was the Year of the Bitcoin Hype is nothing short of understatement. To say that bitcoins hit mainstream press is to say Barack Obama has a chance to become president of the United States.

As evidence, Google published a list of the top 10 “What is” searches of the year. No. 1 was “What is twerking,” which says something about our society (although I am not going to get into that now). No. 10 on the list was “What is bitcoin.”

But all this bitcoin hubbub needs to be put in context. Bitcoin, even from a search perspective, still does not come close to the volume of searches in 2013 for “online banking,” for example. Below is a graphic illustrating the search volume for “bitcoins” vs. “online banking,” and their volumes are not even close.

‘BITCOIN’ V ‘ONLINE BANKING’ SEARCH

I share this data because it is important to realize that for all the media coverage surrounding bitcoins, at least today bitcoins apply to a small minority of consumers or users. However, “real” banking services remain widely demanded, and as any smart banker will tell you, those are the services banks should continue to provide with improved customer experience and efficacy in 2014.

Good luck in the New Year to all our cherished readers.