The origins of online banking are directly connected with the advent of the internet. Even prior to the time when the internet became widely used, banks were using computers to help to automate the daily routine transactions that they would handle. Adapting these transactions to simply be able to be made online was not too far of a leap. Banks that offer both physical branch locations and online banking access are called brick-to-click banks. These banks are definitely more trustworthy as you are assured there will be actual bank locations and employees available to help you in person if you have trouble banking online. There is also an issue of security with online-only banks. Online banks with physical locations are much more trustworthy as online banks without known physical locations can easily be created by scam artists.

There are many advantages to online banking. These advantages include convenience, ubiquity, transaction speed, efficiency, and effectiveness. Online bank offers the convenience of 24/7 access to your account information from home. If you are away from home and your local bank branch, online banking allows you to log onto a computer from anywhere in the world and manage your bank accounts. Online banking sites are generally much faster at computing transactions than most ATM, especially if you account for the time that you would spend driving to and from the ATM. With online banking you can manage all of your bank investment accounts from one secure site instead of multiple different sites. Online banking is an effective tool for money management especially now that many online sites offer money management programs (such as Quicken and Microsoft Money) along with their online banking tools.

Of course there are some disadvantages to online banking that prevent online banking from being the obvious choice for everyone. To begin, there may be a bit of start-up time required to get your account up and running. If you are opening a joint account, or any other new account, you will need to visit a physical location to show ID, sign the appropriate paperwork, etc. Although online banking sites are designed to be user friendly, there is likely to be a learning curve. You will need to invest some time into reading through the information provided on the site. As technology changes, so too will your online banking site. When changes are made, you will need to re-explore the site to see what other resources are now available to you. The biggest disadvantage to online banking and certainly the main reason why more people do not do their banking online is because of the perceived lack of trust. When you are working via computer, you are on your own. You may have concerns about making the right choices, how computer error plays into your finances, etc. Plus, there are always issues of privacy and security online. Hackers and identity thieves would love to get their hands on your personal and financial information.