With the ever increasing popularity of the internet as a means to transact business online, most banks have decided to join the band wagon and provide online banking services to their account holders. This has led to easier access and online banking 365 days in a year. In the course of this article we shall endeavor to look at the history and advantages offered by online banking.
Online banking was actually first developed in the early 1980’s and was only provided by very few banking institutions. After going through the necessary experimentation and testing stage, it later gained a lot of popularity, in the 1990’s due to the increased accessibility and reduction of bureaucratic procedures involved while accessing an account. But, having moved past that stage and the advent of increased electronic commerce, online banking has assimilated many features that make it superior as compared to traditional banking.
These features include:
· Convenience: through online banking, account holders can check balances and pay bills from the ease of their computer. These facilities are accessible throughout the year 24 hours a day, no matter your location. Also, if you maintain more than one account, online banking provides the ability to manage these accounts from the same site.
· Speed of transactions: transactions processed through an online account are typically faster than those processed via an ATM.
· Special features: Online accounts also offer special services such as stock quotes, portfolio management, rates alerts, etc.
Tips and comments:
Banking sites can be somewhat complicated to navigate in the initial stages. Make sure to read through the tutorial provided by your bank, in order to familiarize yourself with the virtual lobby. If you are concerned about the safety of your account(s), ensure to keep a record of the transactions you process online, by printing a transaction receipt, and crosscheck those records with your online or physical bank statements every once in awhile.
