In recent years the growth of the Internet, along with bank branch closures and the success of telephone banking has encouraged a corresponding growth in the popularity of Internet Banking. Being able to check account balances and transfer funds between accounts from the privacy of your own home is seen a major selling point for online banking, and is being touted by most major banks as their saviour in a competitive market where traditional branched based banking has become uncompetitive.

What Is Internet Banking

Internet banking is a service provided by banks, financial institutions, charge card companies, or building societies through a secure page on their website that allows customers to view account balances, print statements, pay bills, transfer funds, and initiate applications for credit such as personal loans, mortgages, and credit cards.

Originally seen by banks as a cost effective way of providing banking services without the expense of under-performing branches and front line staff, Internet banking has in fact taken off in the hearts of many customers for its convenience and 24 hour availability.

Accessing their accounts online only requires that the customer has access to the Internet, a web browser, and a bank issued user name and password. Most banks even provide in-branch demonstrations and training sessions for no cost so barriers to entry of Internet banking are greatly minimized. Significantly, one of the fastest growing markets for online banking is coming from a surprising segment of the market, retirees. Previously thought of as being computer illiterate, their use of the service mirrors their rapid adoption of other Internet activities such as online auctions, social networking, photo sharing, and email.

Moreover, the explosive growth in broadband connections and Internet ready mobile phones has effectively pushed online banking firmly into a mainstream service, so much so, that many banks in developed countries have been able to accelerate branch closures with less opposition than was anticipated.

Safe, Secure Internet Banking

The security of customer accounts is seen as paramount to the continued success of Internet  banking. All reputable institutions provide secure pages, distinguished by the https:// in their website URLs, and most recommend that customers choose a password which cannot be guessed through access to any other personal information. Choosing a password that fraudsters could guess from stealing mail, a wallet, or rummaging through a customer's rubbish bin are seen as insecure.

Security experts also warn users about their choice of browser, and saving passwords in their browser cache or computer key chain. Certain browsers, particularly those based on Microsoft's  Internet Explorer are not seen as safe. Users are warned that certain websites may be able to exploit certain weaknesses in browsers and access information stored on the user's computer, so it is recommended that a separate browser is used for Internet banking. Firefox and Opera are good free alternatives.

Internet Banking Fraud

It is good practice to regularly delete personal information from your browser's cache such as cookies and form responses to prevent websites and other users of computers from accessing your online bank account. Never use a shared computer at school, in your public library or Internet cafe to access your bank account.

No discussion of Internet banking would be complete without also discussing the threats from phishing scams. These are fraudulent scams where an email purporting to be from the user's bank is sent that requests they email back their username and password, or visit a specially crafted website that looks similar to their bank and confirm their username and password.

In both cases the username and password are used by fraudsters to quickly withdraw some or all of the customer's funds. A potentially devastating experience for the victims. All banks and financial institutions have policies of never sending emails that request users send their secure login details or click links from within the email.

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