Online Banking Services - 4 Great Reasons to Use Them

In this modern day of technology, more and more things are becoming computerized, and your banking is no exception. While in recent years you had to go to a bank to deal with your bank account and various other related activities, now days most banks actually provide their customers with online banking services, which takes banking to a whole new level. Now you may be wondering if banking online is really such a great choice, but the following are four really great reasons that you may never want to go back to banking the way it was before you could bank online.

1. Kiss Overdrafts Goodbye - Most people have at some point forgot about something and managed to overdraw their account, resulting in a few fees. With online banking, you can actually avoid those overdraft charges, since you will be able to easily keep track of your account online. If you have accounting software, you can even set that up to work with your online banking account as well.

2. Avoiding Identity Fraud - Although many people seem to think that banking online may actually make them vulnerable to identity fraud, the opposite is actually true. Banks have worked to provide their customers with the best security available, so you can rest assured that your banking and personal information is safe and secure. Using the online bill pay function will also cut down the amount of checks you write, so you will no longer have to send out checks with your personal and banking information through the mail.

3. Saving the Environment - Whether you are an environmental activist or not, no doubt you do want to avoid doing things that will harm the environment. Using online banking services is a great way to help save the environment. You will no longer have to get all those paper statements in the mail, which will save a huge amount of paper, and you will not have to worry about a filing cabinet for your statements either.

4. You Can Bank at Any Time - One of the best reasons to have online banking is that it allows you to do your banking at any time of day, on any day. Instead of having to worry about making it to the bank while they are open, you can access your online account at any time, which is extremely convenient.

As you can see, there are a variety of great reasons to start using online banking services. You can save time, money, the environment, and even start protecting yourself from identity fraud as well. So, why not give this new technology a try and see how it can positively change your life.

By : Linda J Bruton
To learn more about online banking services and how they can greatly simplify your life, make paying your bills a lot faster and your record-keeping easier, be sure to visit http://www.services-online-banking.com

Online Banking Pros and Cons

Like most people, you have probably heard a lot about online banking. Most of the major banks are offering the convenience of banking online. If you have not tried online banking you are probably still banking the old way - paying your bills by mail and going to your local bank branch to make deposits. You may look online for information regarding a mortgage, life insurance, or a personal loan, but when it comes time to make a move, you feel more comfortable dealing with an actual person - a banking associate or your insurance agent.

Why Use Online Banking

For years the banking systems have used computer networks to automate their daily transactions; improving with the changing times. Today, advanced technology gives you the option of bypassing the traditional banking - standing in lines, filling out deposit slips, going to your branch to withdraw money, and so on. Online banking allows you to manage your finances quickly and more efficiently.

Banks view the online option as an added value to attract new customers and retain the old ones. This method of banking helps to keep costs down by eliminating the paper trail and teller transactions associated with traditional banking.

How safe it is to bank online?

The banking industry is faced with the challenge of designing a system that is customer friendly and secure. They take every available precaution to ensure your transactions are secure.

To attract customers and lead them to online banking, many institutions offer added values such as free checking or "limited time offers," for signing up and using online services. Many of the larger banks offer fully function online banking enabling you to view your account balance and history as well as apply for loans, work with your IRA and CD's right from your desktop.

Advantages of banking online

• Convenience: Your online bank never closes; you have access to your account 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• Availability: If you're out of state or out of the country, you can instantly log on to your online bank and take care of business, 24/7.
• Quick Transactions: Online bank sites generally execute and confirm transactions at or quicker than ATM processing speeds.
• Efficiency: You can access and manage all of your bank accounts, including IRAs, CDs, even securities, from one site.
• Effectiveness: Many online banking sites now offer sophisticated tools, including account aggregation, rate alerts, stock quotes, and portfolio managing programs to help you manage your assets more effectively. They are often compatible with programs such as Microsoft Money or Quicken.

Disadvantages of online banking

• Start-up time: In many cases, you will have to go to a branch and provide identification before registering online.
• Learning curve: At first glance, banking sites can appear difficult to navigate at first. Most often tutorials to help you through this process. Once you have learned how the system works, you can complete your banking in minutes.
• The trust factor: This is a big mountain to climb for most people. Learning to trust the online banking system just takes some getting used to. Did I push the transfer button once? Did my transaction go through?

Some welcome the change; others are still a bit hesitant. As with anything the deviates from the norm, it takes some getting used to. Once you are familiar with the process, you will wonder how you ever lived without it.

By : Jason Karp
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Online Banking And Cost Cutting

Online banking uses modern computer technologies to offer the users convenient banking facilities. If you have access to such a facility, there is absolutely no need for you to personally visit your bank’s branch for any sort of transaction. You can simply login with the internet-banking password that your banker has given you, and carry all the necessary work online. It also eliminates the necessity of doing any paper-based work and saves considerable time for the users.

Benefits for the Users and Bankers:

The users can do variety of work using your online banking pin code. Besides paying the routine bills online, you can use the automated system to shop for loans, credit cards, life insurance policies and various such things. An online banking facility enables you to handle your finances efficiently.

The bankers benefit equally from the online banking facilities. Besides offering their users the convenience of banking, the online banking system means significant cost savings for the bankers themselves. With such an automatic system in place, the bankers need not to hire employees specialized in handling paper work and teller interactions. This reduces the bankers’ operating costs considerably, translating into significant cost savings over the long-term.

In today’s competitive banking industry where every banking institution wants to garner a competitive edge over its peers, offering advanced online banking systems is a must. Mostly all the major nationalized banks, regional banks, and even small credit union offer banking facility online to retain their customers.

Today, most large national banks, many regional banks and even smaller banks and credit unions offer some form of online banking, variously known as PC banking, home banking, electronic banking or Internet banking.

Various Advantages of Banking Online:

The biggest advantage of online banking is its convenience. Unlike a bank’s branches, online banking facilities are open 24/7. This offers you banking from the comfort of your home with just a click. You can access such a facility from anywhere in the world. This could be great advantage if you need to address urgent monetary concerns while away from home. Transactions online are fast and mostly quicker than ATM transactions. Moreover, online banking systems have sophisticated tools that provide effective management of the users’ assets.

Obtaining an Internet banking ID can however be a little time taking. You will need to complete formalities such as cresting the ID and filling an online application form for obtaining your Internet banking pin code. Moreover, if you wish to operate an account jointly with your spouse, you will be required to sign power of attorney for initiating the operation. Always remember to obtain a printed receipt after every online transaction and store in your records.

By : Alexander Gordon
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An Examination of Online Banking in the United Kingdom

In the UK, many banks and building societies are attempting to capture a sizeable percentage of the online banking market share. And it seems that the UK consumers are benefiting from this competition most. Online banking in the UK is getting big; there is no doubt about it: 6.5 million consumers are online banking customers. And that figure is projected to rise every year--not because of bank closures--because of the ease that online banking offers. Everyone can say that it is easy and some people may still be dubious about that. But to anyone who is an online banking customer, they will know just how easy and simple it is.

Before choosing an online bank to open an account study carefully what services the bank allows you to do online. Also check the accessibility of talking to a live person. Make sure the banks internet site allow you send secure emails.

The UK, like any other country, has banks on every street corner. And these banks try to lure new customers in with big bright signs: "apply now and get a 6.9% APR rate on your card!" When you are on the Internet, these banks take the same approach. On their websites, there are banners that banks use for advertising space because they recognize that so many people are using online banking; and that they need to emphasize their competitive advantages to draw customers over the Internet.

Some major U.K. banks have opened independent online banks such as Abbey National with www.cahoot.com. There is also www.smile.co.uk the online bank of The Co-operative Bank. Despite all of the advantages to online banking in the UK, not everything is perfect. One in twenty consumers will fall victim to online fraud; and when they do, it will cost them big time. The UK's fraud cost last year was £58 million ($101 million), which is quite scary for consumers looking to join an online bank. To be honest, it is safer to use a brick-and-mortar bank; however, in order to keep this safety net, you must sacrifice convenience and flexibility.

If you decide to open an online banking account but are apprehensive about the security issues, you should spend a considerable amount of time selecting a unique and hard-to-crack password; and in addition to this, you should also use other values for your optional information that is hard to determine.

Other Online Internet Banking Security Tips:

- Make sure your operating systems OS and browsers is updated with the latest upgrades (patches).

- Use an anti-virus and anti-spyware programs update them and scan your pc at least once a week.

- Install a personal firewall and learn to use it.

-Always close your browser window after online banking and delete cookies.

- Change your passwords once a month.

- Never reply to emails asking for you to update your password or give your password. The online banks will never ask for your password.

- Always type in the browser address bar the online banking url. Do not click on a link especially in an email as this may take you to a scammer’s page.

- Never bank online from an internet café.

By : Daisy Pascual
Daisy Pascual writes about online banking for financial publications worldwide and in particular for http://www.offshoreincorporation101.com