In the age of information technology, you no longer need to go to a bank branch and stand in long queues in order to complete any financial transaction. You can pay for the service, transfer money to your family or friends, change currency, control accounts (and much more) 24 hours 7 days using personal eBanking.
When did eBanking appear?
The first systems that made it possible to remotely view and manage bank accounts appeared in the USA in the mid-1980s. They were called Home Banking and allowed using the phone to connect to a banking computer and conduct the most basic transactions. The system appeared as a response to the restrictions that the state-imposed on the banking business at that time – credit organizations could not open their branches in other states.
A little later, the development of Internet technologies pushed to improve the online banking system. In 1997, the world’s first virtual bank, Security First Network Bank, also appeared in America. And in 2001, depositors of the famous Bank of America could already log in to their personal accounts on their bank’s website, check their accounts and carry out simple operations – inquiries, payments, and transfers.
What is personal eBanking?
Personal Internet banking (eBanking / online banking) is a system for managing bank accounts over the Internet. Any client of a credit institution who has registered in the system and received his or her login and password (which, for security reasons, cannot be transferred to third parties) can perform various banking operations without leaving home: pay for mobile communications, traffic fines, utility bills without commission, analyze their expenses… To do this, you only need to have a laptop, tablet or smartphone connected to the World Wide Web.
Internet banking capabilities
Online banking services of leading credit institutions have similar functionality. They include:
- Control over your account: you can always check the balance and track the movement of funds;
- Possibility to pay for services (taxes, fines, Internet, digital TV, mobile communications). For the convenience of payment (so as not to waste time filling out requisites), templates can be created in the service in order to quickly make the same payments. Also, many banks offer the “Auto payment” service. By connecting it, you can rest assured that everything will be paid on time. The system will debit funds from the account for you. This will save you even more time;
- Ability to open new accounts (deposits);
- Transfer of money from account to account, payments for loans and credit cards, replenishment of electronic wallets.
- Transfer of funds to the accounts of other clients of the bank and third-party financial institutions;
- Lack of commission and special user fees. Most credit institutions do not charge additional funds for using Internet banking.
Risks of using the service
Failure to comply with the necessary security rules when using personal eBanking can be fraught with financial losses. In this regard, when carrying out any financial transactions online:
- check whether a connection is established with the bank’s server (whether there is an https prefix in front of the organization’s website) in order to avoid the use of fraudulent resources;
- use licensed versions of anti-virus protection systems, protection from unauthorized access and spyware;
- do not leave the computer unattended;
- after finishing work in the personal eBanking system, be sure to log out of the system, close the browser window with the bank’s interface;
- do not leave information about the login and password on the computer, do not tell anyone about them;
- change the password for logging into the Internet banking system once every couple of months;
- if possible, you should avoid working through public Internet access points and not working with the online bank through unsecured access points to the network;
- monitor account statements regularly (to avoid fraudulent debiting of small and large amounts).
Despite the fact that online banking has its disadvantages in addition to its advantages, they believe that it is the future of the banking system. What do you think?