 I am a relatively new person to the world on online banking, which is actually somewhat surprising as I’ve actually been online since the dawn of time. I have been an internet user since before the advent of the World Wide Web.
I have done shopping on the internet for years. I was always comfortable with that. After all, paying by credit cards always had a certain amount of anti-fraud measures built in. Credit card companies ventured into the online world before the average consumer bank did. Anyway, I have been into personal online banking for almost a year now. I am probably, even though it seems late to me, one of the early ones. I personally do not know many other people who are using online internet banking.
Someone told me that the Bank of America online banking was the first to set up online banking for individuals and Wells Fargo online banking was the first to set it up for businesses, but I’d took that with a pinch of salt as I also heard that it was the Presidential Savings Bank that started it all. I don’t think anyone really knows for sure, as many banks merged into this at different stages and at different levels. Therefore, don’t suspect there was any one online banking facility that launched an online service overnight, but I guess there will be a history of internet banking out there somewhere.
I like online banking, online control of my funds, and the 24/7 flexibility that comes with this from the comfort of my own home. Why? Because I can easily check my bank balances. I can verify deposits that were made, check if checks have cleared anytime of the day or night. Online banking allows me to transfer money via the internet from my checking account to my savings account (and vice-versa) quickly and easily. And now, I can also use online banking to initiate automatic payments via the internet.
That was probably the most difficult realm of online banking for me to enter into. After all, if there was an error, this was money coming from my checking account. Unlike a credit card, that has a 30 day grace period usually to straighten out any problems, if there is a problem with my checking account, checks will bounce, and my debit card will stop working when I go to buy gas or groceries. That scenario alone caused me to hesitate before entering into the realm of bill paying and online banking.
However, I have started to use this bill paying feature of online banking, and I must say that so far, I have been very pleasantly surprised. I take the time to set up a bill to be paid – for example, the rent of a mortgage payment. Every month, that payment is the same. The payment is also due at the same time every month. It was the best first candidate for my online banking excursion into bill paying. I set it up, and I can choose if I want the bill to be paid automatically, or if I still need to manually click and authorize the payment first. If I set it up to be paid automatically, I do not need to worry that the payment will be late. What is cool is that once set up, I never need to write a check, or put a stamp on that payment. It saves me time and money.
I like the fact that I can pay bills and not have to hunt for a stamp. I like that I can save time, by not having to write as many checks each month. So far, online banking earns two thumbs up in my book.
So, if you have a bank, internet banking should be an option. Whether you need personal or business online banking, it’s easy to set up and use. Save yourself time and award yourself the convenience of this modern day banking facility.
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