Internet Banking 2019

Internet Banking Research

Much research was done on internet banking even before it was started.  The research continues to this day, with more and more participants involved.  As people use internet banking more, it gives researchers more reasons and subjects to study. 

One study showed the devastation of identity theft on individuals.  They had trouble getting jobs, loans, and insurance, for example.  They could not conduct business in a bank, not even internet banking.  Some ended up in very difficult positions. 

The study suggested that banks, including internet banking institutions, would do well to proclaim themselves as the champions of identity protection.  This would help them by limiting their losses.  Besides this, they could charge a fee for the service. 

Another study evaluated how people felt about the security of their internet banking transactions.  78% of them stated that they would like some kind of verification of their identities to be carried out at certain times.  This, they thought, should be done at the moment that unusual transactions were being done on their internet banking accounts. 

People seem to be getting more comfortable with internet banking every year.  One study showed an increase in internet banking of 9.5% between 2006 and 2007.  Another study predicts that 76% of the households who have an internet hookup in the year 2011 will also do internet banking. 

It is true that internet banking and online bill paying are predicted to continue their rise in popularity.  However, viewing bills electronically is expected to decline.  Payment by other means besides internet banking is also expected to go down, including bill paying by phone. 

Some studies have made use of surveys that ask people if they want alerts for their internet banking accounts, and if so, what kind.  It turns out that consumers do want alerts for their accounts.  What is more, they want a lot of alerts for a variety of occurrences. 

They want to be alerted when a bill is going to be paid and when it has been paid.  They want to be able to set an alert to tell them when a certain check has cleared.  They want to be alerted when there is any inkling of fraud.  This one, of course, is an especially good idea. 

The demographics of internet banking have also been studied.  It seems that the middle income people who use internet banking are afraid they will lose control without better records.  Anything that can be done to give them better records will make them more comfortable to use online banking. 

The lower income people have many reasons for not using internet banking.  The over-$100,000 group seems to use it more.  They also tend to use it without fear.  This may be because they are in less danger of running out of money and overdrawing their account. 

A new field of study is social networking.  This is a concept that involves the use of internet banking by networks of people.  They are usually in their 30's and 40's.  They put their money together to make deals with financial organizations.  Study is geared towards finding out how this will affect internet banking for these people, and for all internet banking customers. 

Internet banking research is going on, and will continue to go on as long as online banking exists.  The banks want to know how to stay profitable.  Hopefully, they are also interested in how to better service their customers.   

Internet Banking Savings Accounts

Internet banking savings accounts are being used more every year by people across the country and around the globe.  They offer a better alternative to traditional savings accounts.  People who use internet banking savings have good reasons to do so. 

If you opt for a traditional savings account instead of an internet banking account, you will get a very low interest rate.  In fact, you will not make enough on your money to cover the cost of inflation.  Savings in traditional banks are generally around 1% annually. 

This low interest rate barely makes it worth your effort to save.  You will be better off to buy things at today's prices.  That way, when money is worth less, you will not have your money sitting in a traditional account where it will then buy less than it can now.  Internet banking provides an alternative to this situation. 

Many traditional banks have worked to establish incentives to encourage saving among their customers.  They have set up programs where extra money can be put into savings automatically.  They have also encouraged the use of automatic transfers to your savings weekly or monthly. 

These measures do not work because the interest rates are so low that people see no future in saving.  However, with internet banking, all that changes.  Internet banking institutions tend to offer rates more along the lines of 4.5% to 5%. 

This difference allows consumers to put money in internet banking savings accounts and know that it will retain its value over time, as long as the rates stay up.  With the traditional savings, rates would have to soar to even come close to this level. 

Another advantage of internet banking savings accounts is a good deal for the small investor.  You may not have large amounts of money to save at one time.  If not, you are like many financially strapped Americans. 

In many traditional banks, this means that you will be given the lowest possible interest rates.  If you go to a brokerage firm, you cannot open a money market account for less than $1000 as a minimum balance.  Sometimes it is even more.  This is not so for internet banking savings accounts. 

If you have your savings through internet banking, you will be able to have high interest rates at any level of investments.  You can start your internet banking savings account with as little as $100. 

You might have to pay service fees until you reach a certain threshold, usually a few hundred dollars.  After that, you will be making money at better rates than you ever could at a traditional bank. 

One downside of internet banking is that some of the major banks will not deal with customers who demand a lot of time.  They will discourage these customers from using their services because they are too hard to handle.  This is not true of all internet banking, but if you need a lot of help, you should be aware of it. 

Overall, though, savings done through internet banking institutions still work out better for most people than traditional savings accounts.  There is just no reason to deny yourself the best interest rates your money can earn. 

Internet Banking with Virtual Safe Deposit Boxes

Many internet banking companies now offer virtual safe deposit boxes.  It is a somewhat new concept, coming into popularity after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  People were searching for a way to safeguard important papers, and virtual safe deposits supplied it. 

Internet banking services own secure servers called virtual safe deposit boxes.  You can pay a fee to use them to store your important documents.  You simply upload copies of important papers onto this server. 

Then, you can download these documents whenever you choose to do so.  All you have to do is go to a computer with internet capabilities and go to the secure server.  Go through the security protocol with your internet banking service and you will have your information.  You can print is out and it will be given the same consideration as any copy of a document. 

The security for virtual safe deposit boxes includes an extremely high level of encryption.  If you use one of these "boxes" with your internet banking service, you will find them to be safer than most anything on the internet. 

About the year 2000, internet banking companies began pushing virtual safe deposit boxes.  It was at this time that electronic signatures came into recognition.  This prompted internet banking companies to look for ways people could securely store documents produced on their computers. 

Now, virtual safe deposit boxes allow internet banking companies to store all kinds of information.  Anything that can be put on paper can be stored as a PDF file and placed in a virtual safe deposit box.  This can be done over the internet after paperwork has been scanned into a computer file.  Some companies also offer to include documents sent by fax. 

If you want to make a record of your possessions for insurance purposes, you can do so.  You can make the list in a simple document file.  Then, you can add photographs of valued items.  Finally, you can attach receipts of items you have bought and appraisals of antiques you have acquired.  You can put all this on your internet banking server in your virtual safe deposit box. 

You can store official information, too.  This includes birth certificates, marriage licenses, and death certificates.  You can store legal documents like mortgage papers or divorce decrees.  You can even store medical and dental records.  Anything that can be put on paper can be stored through your internet banking company.

It is also an important service for businesses.  Reams of paperwork are generated without computers to store it.  However, even if it is put on computers, as it almost always is now, it takes up space on your computer, too.  What is more, you will want to have important business documents stored in a more secure manner.  This is where virtual safe deposit boxes come in.  You can get them wherever you do your internet banking. 

Storing documents is getting more complex as the information age advances.  Internet banking offers a secure solution with virtual safe deposit boxes.  It is a service worth exploring. 

Internet Banking with Virtual Banks

There are two ways to do internet banking.  Banking online through a website set up by a traditional bank does not seem to be too much of a stretch for many people.  However, virtual banks are taking internet banking to a whole different level.  

A virtual bank is a bank that has no physical structure where you can go to conduct business.  It has no branches convenient to you.  You simply do all your transactions through the internet banking. 

If you have a problem, you cannot go to your local branch and complain to the manager.  Instead, you have to contact representatives of your virtual bank online.  Sometimes, you can take care of these internet banking tasks over the telephone.  If you like to deal with problems face to face, though, virtual banks are not for you. 

A virtual bank does not have automatic teller machines.  It usually charges you fees to use other banks' ATM's.  There are some virtual banks that will reimburse you for ATM fees.  This is an important thing to consider when you are comparing internet banking. 

If you use ATM's a lot, you will not want to pay extra every time you use one.  It matters especially with a virtual bank.  If you do internet banking with one, it will be the way you usually get cash.  If not, you will have to transfer funds from your virtual bank to a traditional bank account and then get the cash from that bank. 

Deposits are done differently at virtual banks.  When you are doing strictly internet banking, there is no one to cash checks for you.  You can have steady income amounts automatically deposited into your internet banking account. 

However, someone will eventually buy something from you, or you will get a rebate check.  At that point you will need to make a manual deposit.  Some virtual banks now have set up deals where you can make deposits to internet banking accounts through certain ATM's.  Some will let you turn in deposits of checks at Mail Boxes Etc.  Yet, it is still somewhat of a problem. 

Do not assume that a virtual bank does not have proper insurance.  Most virtual banks in the US do.  To be certain, you can go to the FDIC's website and look up the name of your virtual bank you are considering.  Most likely, you will find it there.  Then, you can find out information about the bank's insurance with the FDIC.  If you do not find it on the list, report it to the FDIC as an internet banking company without insurance. 

Of course, there are security risks with virtual banking.  However, most of them can be taken care of by you guarding your private banking information.  Virtual banks have everything to lose if their security is breached, so they go the extra mile to assure that your internet banking is safe. 

It is an age when most banking relies on computers, whether for internet banking or for transactions within a traditional bank.  You cannot get away from the use of the internet being used in your banking.  Internet banking by means of virtual banks just takes it one step further. 

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