Internet banking evolved concurrently with the World Wide Web. In 1980, software developers and programmers, while working on banking data bases, got the idea of online banking. This was the same period in which many banks in Europe and the United States started experimenting with home banking. With the help of telephones and fax machines, home banking gradually stood up to facilitate customers on a lower scale, but this was not enough. In 1983, the Nottingham Building Society (NBS) introduced internet banking services in a premature form. It was only in 1994 that Stanford Federal Credit Union introduced fully developed and much improved internet banking in the US. After that, there was no looking back. Internet banking has revolutionized the banking world and has become the mainstay of banks all over the world. Advantages on Internet Banking Gone are the days when you had to stand in long queues to reach the cash counter of the bank. Thanks to internet banking, the whole process has become easier, safer and faster. Online banking offers several benefits, such as:
- Now you can check your account at any time. You need not bother about day, night, weekends and public holidays because online services are available 24×7 and 365 days of the year.
- No need to bother about the money transactions and preparing records manually. Every record of withdrawal and deposit can be maintained easily without any flaws with the help of technology.
- You can save precious time that can be used more productively. With net banking facilities, you can make transactions from your home or office. There is no need to visit bank personally.
- For business men, there are huge benefits in the form of making large transactions safely. Online banking also facilitates the easy availability of loans, which previously used to entail a cumbersome process.
- Money transfer from and to any part of the world is possible now. You can send money to remote places while sitting at home and sipping coffee.
- In the era of traditional banking, you probably would not know about those miscellaneous charges that eat away at your money like mites. But now, due to the online facility, you will get information regarding all those hidden charges, which banks normally avoid telling their customers. Online banking has created more transparency between the customer and the bank.
Online banking has simplified the world of finance. Everything has some positives and negatives, and so does internet banking. But with knowledge, thought and technology, these negatives can be easily avoided.