Online Banking:an Overview

The internet has brought the whole world at our fingertips. There is nothing that cannot be done on the internet these days, everything from buying groceries to dating to banking. Almost all the banks have online banking these days making banking much easier and easily accessible to everyone. You can transfer funds, pay bills and do scores of other things all on your laptop or pc without moving an inch from your couch and without missing a moment of your favorite match.

Getting Started:

You will need a user Id and a password to access your online account. Usually when you register the bank provides a user id and a default password which can be changed by you. Some banks also employ a site key which has additional visuals to ensure security. Once inside, you should typically be able to see different sections such as your accounts summary, funds transfer, credit cards, investment accounts and portfolio, credit card, Bill pay and customer service. You can save a lot of time and energy by relying on online banking.

Personal Banking:

You can use the accounts summary to check your latest or past transactions of your various accounts with the bank including credit cards. You can view other information such as what check was credited and also view an image of the check, all at the click of a button. You can keep records by importing the data to a spreadsheet and create your own budget. Also you can view transactions over a specific period of time. If you are an active trader on the share markets you can also check your account online if you have it linked to your checking or savings account.

The best feature of online banking is funds transfer. You can transfer money to your own or somebody else's account using this feature. In most cases the amount is transferred almost immediately or at a maximum of three days. No need for writing checks and no waiting.

You may also do your investments such as CDs online and also apply for loans!

Paying Bills:

You can also use your online banking account to pay bills. Most of the banks provide a list of the most common billers and all you have to do is add the biller along with your account number which appears on the bill and you are all set.

The major advantage of paying bills through your bank account is you have a single window to take charge of your transactions. You don't need to maintain separate passwords and visit different pages to pay bills. You can track your previous payments and also check if a particular payment has gone through or has been rejected. Moreover, you can schedule a payment to take place at a particular date of a month. Just set it and forget it.

Every bank has some or the other security feature installed to protect its customers from fraud and identity theft. Some have a separate transaction password and others ask you to mention numbers from the back of your ATM debit card. According to a survey by a top university every website has some or the other flaw and could expose the customers to cyber thieves waiting to get a grab at their identity or money. Following some basic security guidelines should help in keeping the cyber crooks at bay.

1. Try not to access banking accounts over shared machines such as in cyber cafes. Always remember to log off and to delete all the cookies and the internet history.

2. Keep a strong password. A strong password is alphanumeric and has a length of more than eight. Do not have passwords which have names or birthdates.

3. Phishers usually pose as harmless salesmen or customer service executives to steal identities. Never share you account number, user id or password with anyone.

4. Change your password regularly.

So there you go. It's time to get out of the archaic way of banking and use the much easier and efficient way of banking online.