Online
Banking for Investors:
Virtual
banks that operate online may have reduced costs, freeing them of overhead. This can allow the customer to receive lower fees and
savings and possibly a higher yield of deposits in conjunction with other
savings.
While everyone
uses their own criteria for evaluating where they do their banking,
for ebanking, some of the mani points are:
fees -
be aware of what bank charges are for all services rendered including
checking, transfer of funds (within the country and between accounts)
overdraft protection and ATM and related surcharges. Also can
you readily find local ATM's without surcharge as part of their
site?
interest -
whether interest payout is arrived at straight or by average
percentage yield - which gives compounding of your funds; daily
(optimal), monthly or quarterly. Any interest bearing checking
accounts belonging to the services offered and any minimum balance
requirements attached to this and all accounts.
Convenience,
User-Friendliness,
Efficiency & Reliability
- Real time
versus delayed time.
- Proprietary
software needed for use and any
cost for this.
- Software
the bank uses to load to or from, such
as Quicken or Money. The same as yours?
- Access to
account and up-to-date information
with account history specifics.
- Duration
of you account history on record.
(nine to twelve month's or more?)
- Customer
Service characteristics.
- Site downtime
and time for site loading.
security -
Guarantees against fraudulent transactions can be found. As can
higher degrees of security and encryption methods on the entire
system, from password protection, to firewall emplacement, to
activity verification.
Software due
in the near future is slated for electronic bill presentation.
This will carry ebanking to even greater mainstream usage, providing
the most timely form of presentation overall.
In addition
to the traditional accounts offered, financial products and services
online include:
CD's -
certificates of deposit, fixed interest and FDIC insured.
Money
Market Accounts - higher yield but not FDIC insured
with a checking option. |
