This is according to a survey on financial habits of Singaporeans, conducted by market research firm Media-Screen and commissioned by Google.

Among the online resources used for financial research, the two most popular ones are financial company websites (64 percent) and search engines (63 percent).

The report shows that a large percentage of the 601 Singaporeans surveyed are using the Internet to learn about consumer-oriented financial products such as personal loans and insurance policies.

"In an economic slowdown when more and more consumers are counting every cent, they'll spend more time researching online, comparison shopping and hunting for bargains before making any purchase, creating a phenomenon known in the United States as the 'Wal-Mart effect'," said Lori Sobel, head of sales, Google Southeast Asia.

"We are seeing the same phenomenon as more and more Singaporeans use the Internet to find the best deals on financial products, our very own 'NTUC-effect'." NTUC is Singapore's National Trades Union Congress.