Internet banking is a great convenience, especially to people who have numerous accounts, many sources of income, or have a lot of transactions. It involves using a safe site through the bank's web page and keeping your account identification and password to yourself. The set up is very simple and only takes a few minutes.
After the online account is set up, the bank will need a couple of days to verify that the person using the account online is really the person who has the bank account. They have an ingenious way of preventing fraud. The bank will put a few cents into your account. You will have to go in person to prove who you are. Once your identification is assured, the teller will let you know the amount they put in. You go home and enter it online when you are prompted. This will then allow you to start online banking and will connect your profile to your actual account.
Though it is not the same as going to a bank in person (you can do nothing with cash), it is mostly just for easing the tedious monitoring of your account. Instead of waiting for your monthly statement and then trying to balance a month's worth of credits and debits, you can just follow along online every day. It makes balancing your checkbook so much easier, since you get just a couple of transactions within a few days of their occurrence.
It also helps because you can pay your bills through the site. By transferring the money directly, you will never have to worry about the check bouncing in a couple of days or over-spending or a check being over-due or lost.
People with many accounts find this is a great relief to see all of them together and transfer money with more ease. You can look back at what has happened in the accounts for the past thirty days. Any longer than that and you will have to go into the bank. Thankfully, since people can check up as often as they like, there is less need for going into the bank to sort out complications.
You have the option to search for a specific transaction, which can be hard to find on a busy statement. The greatest step forward in security is allowing you to see a photocopy of the front of every check that gets cashed from the account. If you cannot remember if you wrote a specific check or not, you can click on the link next to the transaction description (it will often be the check number that is the link), and you can see the check itself. You will know right away if it is your handwriting.
Since you can see it right away, it reduces the time in between a fraudulent check being cashed and the person catching on to it. Statements offer none of this security. Think how much more difficult it would be to remember if you had written a check or not after almost a month had passed. Think, too, how far away the fraudulent person could get and how much more likely it would be that the money would be all spent.
There are tons of preferences to suit your needs on these sites. You can even do a stop payment transaction on a check. Read the site's literature to make sure you understand how to avoid fraud and properly use the site.
After the online account is set up, the bank will need a couple of days to verify that the person using the account online is really the person who has the bank account. They have an ingenious way of preventing fraud. The bank will put a few cents into your account. You will have to go in person to prove who you are. Once your identification is assured, the teller will let you know the amount they put in. You go home and enter it online when you are prompted. This will then allow you to start online banking and will connect your profile to your actual account.
Though it is not the same as going to a bank in person (you can do nothing with cash), it is mostly just for easing the tedious monitoring of your account. Instead of waiting for your monthly statement and then trying to balance a month's worth of credits and debits, you can just follow along online every day. It makes balancing your checkbook so much easier, since you get just a couple of transactions within a few days of their occurrence.
It also helps because you can pay your bills through the site. By transferring the money directly, you will never have to worry about the check bouncing in a couple of days or over-spending or a check being over-due or lost.
People with many accounts find this is a great relief to see all of them together and transfer money with more ease. You can look back at what has happened in the accounts for the past thirty days. Any longer than that and you will have to go into the bank. Thankfully, since people can check up as often as they like, there is less need for going into the bank to sort out complications.
You have the option to search for a specific transaction, which can be hard to find on a busy statement. The greatest step forward in security is allowing you to see a photocopy of the front of every check that gets cashed from the account. If you cannot remember if you wrote a specific check or not, you can click on the link next to the transaction description (it will often be the check number that is the link), and you can see the check itself. You will know right away if it is your handwriting.
Since you can see it right away, it reduces the time in between a fraudulent check being cashed and the person catching on to it. Statements offer none of this security. Think how much more difficult it would be to remember if you had written a check or not after almost a month had passed. Think, too, how far away the fraudulent person could get and how much more likely it would be that the money would be all spent.
There are tons of preferences to suit your needs on these sites. You can even do a stop payment transaction on a check. Read the site's literature to make sure you understand how to avoid fraud and properly use the site.