Online Banking

Online banking can be a confusing term as not only do major banks now offer their services on the internet, but there ae dedicated banks that can only be found online. Such exclusive online banks inlcude Smile, Cahoot,  Egg Online Bank and OneAccount. These banks offer most of the services offered by ordinary banks as well as extra innovative products entirely online.

The major benefit of such banks is that they have less overheads, thus able to cut-costs and pass that on to their customers. They can also save you money through the "offsetting" which is when the interest you gain in one account is used to offset that on money borrowed. This can mean a great deal of savings if you have a home loan for instance.

Major banks such as Bank Of America, Wells Fargo, Barclays, Chase, HSBC, RBS now offer their customers online banking facilities. This saves time and is very convenient as it saves clients unnecessary trips to your local branch. Bank of America online banking, for instance is very popular

When opening an account, you should find out if online banking is available. Also enquire about their online banking security measures. In addition to tough password security, most banks offer information as to the anti-virus software that can be used plus other information on how to determine fraud.

Most banks, if not all, rarely send email to their clients. Should you receive an email purporting to be from the bank  asking for your account details including password  (this is normally known as phishing) it is best to forward it to the official fraud-alert email provided by the bank.

See also:

Personal Banking

Online Checking Accounts Debit Cards And Internet Banking