Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study technology acceptance of internet banking in Estonia, an emerging east European economy. Design/methodology/approach – The present paper modifies the technology acceptance model and applies it to bank customers in Estonia, because Estonia, a country with a developing economy, has focused on internet banking as an important distribution channel. Findings – The findings suggest that internet bank use increases insofar as customers perceive it as useful. The perceived usefulness is central because it determines whether the perceived ease of internet bank use will lead to increased use of the internet bank. Put differently, a well-designed and easy to use internet bank may not be used if it is not perceived as useful. We thus conclude that the perceived usefulness of internet banking is, for banks, a key construct for promoting customer use. We also suggest that models of technology acceptance should be re-formulated to focus more on the key role of the perceived usefulness of the service embedded in the technology. Research limitations/implications – Implications for banks are that they need to put much effort not only into making a user-friendly internet bank, but also into explaining to their customers how the internet bank is useful to them. Originality/value – Contributes to the literature on internet banking in an East European economy.