Online banking
All high street banks offer online banking and some banks are exclusively online with no high street branches.
Services
A customer with access to online banking can:
- check their bank balance
- view/print current and previous bank statements
- pay bills online, ie setup direct debits and standing orders
- setup new, separate accounts for specific purposes, eg savings
- transfer money between their accounts and to other people's
Customer benefits
- Convenience - banking when it suits them, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year from any computer with an internet connectionA connection to the internet by a computer or another internet-enabled device..
- Higher interest rates - savings banks make through reduced staffing, fewer premises and increased automation mean they can offer higher interest rates.
- Increased market awareness - visit all the banks and find out what interest rates they offer online.
Customer concerns
- The closure of small, local branches or reductions in opening hours.
- The security of online banking, specifically hackingGaining unauthorised access to a computer. and credit card fraud.
- Staffing reductions.
As banking becomes increasingly reliant on technology these concerns are set to increase.