Online Banking

Online Banking


In olden days we need to go to the bank for every banking transaction. Sometimes we may find that the banks are closed or the banking hours are not suitable to us or location of the bank is not convenient to us. There are many difficulties we face when we go to  our bank personally. To avoid these difficulties there is one solution, online banking.


What is online banking ?


With the development of technology and the internet particularly we do not have to visit the bank personally, we can use internet banking. Online banking means making banking transactions through the internet. we can access our bank account via internet by registering ourself with our bank for online banking. Through online banking we can make deposits , withdrawals and even pay our bills by just clicking the mouse, the only thing we need is a computer with an internet access. By using online banking we can avoid the bank queue and make transactions from the convenience of our home or office. we can check our bank balance and transactions, pay our bills online by typing the instructions on the internet.  The fee for online banking is very low and  this service is worth every rupee spend on it. Another advantage is that there is no waste of paper and time. The bank prints our bank account statement and then posts it, this process use to take a lot of time and money , all this is avoided by online banking.
It is a new concept in banking. Online banking means a self service attitude of banking. Banking itself was never wrong but our dependence on banking was too much and that is why we faced many disappointments. In online banking the customer is the sole financial controller of his own finance and life. The customer performs his own banking transactions by using the internet. We can book tickets of railways, buses, airlines to any place in the world,  we can shop anything and everything with online banking and also make payments online. All banking transactions can be carried out with online banking. This online service is provided by almost all the banks, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. This service gives the customer the freedom of timings you can pay your bills or even make purchases at any point of time and any day at our convenience.
There are many banks and financial institutions who provide internet services of banking. The best part of online banking is that these services are provided at no extra cost. In fact we save lot of money on postal charges and also we do not have to travel all the way to the bank thus our traveling expense is also saved. Banks also profit by providing these services because they do not need huge staff and do not have to pay huge salaries. This savings of banks are transferred to customers by providing them high interest rates.


We find that there are many advantages of online banking like:

• Online banking gives more interest rates than any other form of banking and also saves lot of expenses.
• We can carry out all banking transactions at our own convenience and do not have to depend on normal bank timings.
• Lot of precious time is saved because of online banking, as transactions are carried out in seconds and we can see the updates immediately.
• Since everything is computerized, we save all the paper work and we save the trouble of maintaining physical records. There is nothing manual hence the records are perfect and accurate.
• Banks also provide balance alerts if our balance reduces and alerts the customer in case of due dates of our bill occurs.
• There are no extra charges and these online banking services are absolutely free. Previously banks used to charge heavily for all their services.
• There is improvement in customer access, since the bank can access more customers within a short time through the internet.
• The customers can be offered more services through online banking.

There are also some disadvantages of online banking which restricts people to use this service, like:

• Online banking has reduced the bank to customer personal interaction, since all the transactions are handled by the customer from the internet account there is no personalized banking service which reduces customer to bank interaction.
• When we are entering online banking instructions there is always a chance that the information may be leaked or our account can be hacked and all your confidential information is leaked. There are many banks that have good security systems to guard such thefts.
• We can access our online banking account by entering our  personal identification and our password. This password can be used by anyone to access our account and transfer funds or cause financial problems. Whereas when  we visit the bank personally our account is handled by the bank staff and therefore our confidential information cannot be viewed by anyone. Also all our instructions are given in writing with our signature, therefore there are less chances of fraud and information leak.
• When we are using internet banking the internet security is a big problem faced by many banks. So the customer must be aware of the security issues and protect their identity and other personal details from hackers.

To make online banking a safe and secure banking experience we need to follow these steps:

• Avoid accessing our account from a cyber café or a shared computer. If we are happen to do so then change our password as soon as we finish your banking transaction.
• Every time we finish using our online banking session then sign out from the site rather then just closing the browser.
• Change our internet banking password after your first login and thereafter regularly.
• Use complex and difficult password and make it difficult for others to guess.
• Use different id and password for different internet accounts.
• Never share our passwords or login details with anybody.
• View our account daily and check it with our transactions, if there is any thing which does not tally with our instructions then inform our bank immediately.

Conclusion:


So therefore advantages of online banking out number its disadvantages and therefore this form of banking has become very popular with the customers. In this modern age of banking, online banking or net banking has made things easier for people and saves lot of time . Though internet banking is the need of every customer,  some banks are still not having advance features like transferring money to any bank across the country or easy registration for net banking, this is because some banks are situated in the rural areas where the use of computers is not common. All customers of all banks can be linked by net banking only if technology reaches even the most remote areas of the country.