Online Banking
If you’re like most people, you’ve heard a lot about online banking but probably haven’t tried it yourself. You still pay your bills by mail and deposit checks at your bank branch, much the way your parents did. You might shop online for a loan, life insurance or a home mortgage, but when it comes time to commit, you feel more comfortable working with your banker or an agent you know and trust.

Online banking isn’t out to change your money habits. Instead, it uses today’s computer technology to give you the option of bypassing the time-consuming, paper-based aspects of traditional banking in order to manage your finances more quickly and efficiently.

Brick-to-Click Banks
Today, most large national banks, many regional banks and even smaller banks and credit unions offer some form of online banking, variously known as PC banking, home banking, electronic banking or Internet banking. Most of the large banks now offer fully secure, fully functional online banking for free or for a small fee. As more banks succeed online and more customers use their sites, fully functional online banking likely will become as commonplace as the automated teller machine (ATM).

Advantages of Online Banking
Convenience: Unlike your corner bank, online banking sites never close; they’re available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and they’re only a mouse click away.
Ubiquity: If you’re out of state or even out of the country when a money problem arises, you can log on instantly to your online bank and take care of business, 24/7.
Transaction speed: Online bank sites generally execute and confirm transactions at or quicker than ATM processing speeds.
Efficiency: You can access and manage all of your bank accounts, including IRAs, CDs, even securities, from one secure site. Best bet: always print the transaction receipt and keep it with your bank records until it shows up on your personal site and/or your bank statement
Effectiveness: Many online banking sites now offer sophisticated tools, including account aggregation, stock quotes, rate alerts and portfolio managing programs to help you manage all of your assets more effectively.

It’s easy to get started. To use Online Banking, all you will need is:

• A checking or savings account at the bank;
• An ATM or Check Card, for some banks;
• A valid e-mail address; and
• Access to a computer with an internet connection, such as Comcast, Verizon, or AOL