Popular Reviews: Home Plasma TV Lawn Mowers Toyota Prius Leaf Blowers Treadmills Mutual Funds Refrigerators

Online Banking: A few years ago we did an article on "Online Banking" while it was still in its infancy. Now almost all banking institutions offer some kind of online access to your account. Just setup a username and password through their website and you get instant access to your account 24/7. Convenience is probably the biggest reason people want to do online banking. Whether its paying the electric bill at 2 in the morning or just checking your balances while at work, having an online bank account is quite convenient. At first people were scared to bank online for fear of getting their account stolen or broken into and having funds transferred out. With secure websites and plenty of useful features, now banks are practically begging you to bank online and save them time and money as well. If you don't already bank online, you should at least give it a try. You can ask your bank how to sign-up - usually takes a few minutes. The immediate benefits are things like being able to do account to account transfers, paying your bills online, making wire transfers, view online statements, look at cashed checks, etc. You no longer have to do your banking only when the bank is actually open since now it's available to you 24 hours a day 365 days a year. To get into your account you will need a username and password that is unique to you and then login to see your accounts. I regularly login online to transfer money from my account to my daughters account (she is away at college). Paying bills (see below) is also pretty easy and it allows you to setup a "bill pay" feature wherein you take care of regular monthly bills without the hassle of writing checks and mailing an envelope. Internet fraud and identity theft have kept banks on their 'toes' but at the same time it has given the public an even more secure online banking experience as these banks don't want to be the only financial institution that has a breech in their system. As the world goes paperless, you may find that your bank will no longer send you a monthly statement, they will force you to view it online. Much like ATM machines revolutionized retail banking and eliminated the need for tellers in most situations, the Internet will do away with paper statements and other documents that can be placed online. The only thing you can't do is withdraw money right from your computer (wouldn't that be nice). The top banks offering online banking are Wells Fargo, Wachovia, City National, US Bank, Bank of America (B of A), Washington Mutual, Chase, Citibank, Suntrust and Royal Bank. Just do a search online through Google to find the official website for these banks and check out their online banking programs and services. Wells Fargo Online Banking: Since I do my online banking through Wells Fargo, I figured I would give you a quick rundown of how things work with them. Firstly, once you establish your account and setup an online username and password, you can login anytime you want to view your various accounts. I have access to all my accounts - kids, personal, wife, business, credit cards. It's a one-stop shop for all my financial needs and I can easily and quickly transfer funds back and forth to each one with a few keystrokes. I no longer have monthly statements sent to my home as everything is stores online and I can view or print out whatever I need. Periodically I check my account activity (once a month or so) to make sure there are no "strange" or "funny" looking transactions that might tip me off to some kind of identity theft or fraud. You can even do mobile banking on your cell phone with Wells Fargo. If you are really detailed about your accounts, you can get email alerts sent each time your balance goes above or below a certain point, or if a withdrawal or deposit is made. I have yet to use this service, but it makes sense to get some information sent - like when your credit card bill is due. They keep up to 7 years of online bank statements for you (the IRS recommends 7 years for tax purposes in case you get audited). The bill pay feature is what I think I use the most. You can setup a one-time or recurring bill pay for things like utility bills, credit cards, mortgage payments, preschool fees, etc. No checks need to be written and they guarantee the service. Wells Fargo is a well established bank that most of their business in California, but they are recognized nationally and have a well thought out online experience. Give them a try at Wellsfargo.com. Online Bill Pay: The #1 reason people sign up for online banking is pay bills and keep track off their finances. Bill pay is offered by most banks and the service is free in many cases (minimum balance required), otherwise banks like Wells Fargo charge $6.95 for the service. Say you pay 10 bills a month via the traditional mail routine, that would cost you the time of writing each check and a stamp for each ($4.10/ for 10 bills). Each month the recurring service saves you time and energy which should easily make up for the other $2.85. Set up the payee information online and let the bank handle the rest. If the amount is the same each month, then set it once and forget about it. Otherwise you will have to schedule your payment with the correct amount each month. Bill pay is simple for things like mortgage payments, cable bills, garbage, newspaper, etc. - things that are the same amount month in and month out. You can even have the bank send you an email when the payment was made so you know the company received it ok. Bill pay is reliable and secure which makes it the perfect time saver in todays hectic world. Secure Banking Online: Being able to do your banking online in a secure manner should be your top priority. There are literally 1000's of "phishing scams" out there in which thieves try to get you to reveal your login password information for you online account. These scams trick innocent users each day and many are done using a simple email letter asking you to login to your account to verify your information. This is just a trick, no bank would ask you to do this unless they were a scam. Don't EVER click on links within an email unless you can verify it came from your bank - call your bank and ask if they sent the email if you have to. The link the thief wants you to click on takes you to a similar looking webpage to that of your bank and then they track your login username/password so that they now can get access to your account. Most online banks' websites haved curbed this type of "phishing" by making their websites even more secure than ever, but they can't protect you from everything. Rest assured that if you go to a site like Wellsfargo.com the site is 100% secure and your banking experience is well protected. © 1999-2008 Funskins.com - Product Reviews