Are you ready for online banking? Or a better question – are the banks ready for you?

Online banking is much, much more than simply punching in your codes at the nearest ATM, and the breadth of services available to you are growing fast. In fact, some banks do not have branches located in brick buildings at all, but are operating competitively in the "online" world offering all the services "traditional" banks have offered in the past.

Getting Started
So, what should you consider before making the leap in to cyber- banking? Probably the first thing to consider is whether you have the "connections". The simplest online connection you need is dial-up internet access from your computer. With this, you are now able to make a connection with your existing bank or surf other banks to open an account, request a loan, etc. If you have an existing bank account, many banks are making it easy for you to "enable" online access to your accounts. Check with your bank, the process of getting online access to your existing accounts is fairly easy – and you should be able to do this online. (Note: When converting my existing account to online banking at the RBC the process wouldn't let me do it online. I had to call in to their office during business hours, but the process was fairly simple and the telephone support was very good.)

They will guide you through a simple process, setting you up with your account # and password. Guard these carefully! – they are just as important as your ATM PIN #'s.

What Can Online Banking Do For Me?

The services available to you are growing monthly. To be fair to the banks, they are playing catch-up to some of the services being offered by auction payment systems which in a way have "blazed the trail" for online payments. New e-money currency, "wallets" and payment systems have filled a gap in the market place that banks are looking to recover. The ones that really want your business won't make it difficult for you to do business with them. As we all know, nothing is more frustrating than spending your time and energy trying to use your bank's "online" services only to find that an hour later you see a message saying "please visit your nearest branch to….".

So what should you expect? Here is a list of basic services that I believe you should be able to expect from your online bank (and of course, the list keeps growing).

 Open a new account  Check credit card balances  Check your mortgage balances  Make bill payments  Schedule automatic bill payments for regular bills  Make credit card bill payments  Apply for a loan  Apply for a mortgage  Transfer funds between accounts  Ability to send and receive checks online  Check your brokerage account and trade stocks or mutual funds (integrated)
 Wireless banking access

I should note that when comparing some of the services offered by US banks vs. Canadian banks, it appears that Canadian banks are slower to offer important basic online services such as sending and receiving checks and payments. Hopefully they will catch up in the coming months.

Advantages
The advantages of convenience and speed for online banking are obvious. You have the ability to do your business when it is most convenient to you, at any time of day with no line-ups and no waiting. Transactions are most often executed and confirmed instantly or during the next business day. And of course, with the increased competition that comes with consumers having more knowledge and easier access to competitors, the price differences are worth comparing. For certain basic services the "virtual" banks that only operate online have better rates as compared against some of the traditional institutions that have to maintain their branches and buildings.

How Do they Rate?
Most importantly, how do the competing banks rate for their online banking services, fees, and support? I have discovered a number of sources providing key ratings and evaluations of major US and Canadian banks and would like to provide you with these important links that lay out in detail the services, fees and

For US Bank Comparisons

According to a Consumer Reports (CR) study that will be published in its February 2002 issue, just over one-fifth (22%) of US households are banking online. About 80% of respondents consider online banking "easy and quick," and 60% of e-bankers are concerned that their banks would share personal data.

Consumer Reports' top five online banks include, in descending order: E*Trade, Citibank, NetBank, JP Morgan Chase and Bank One.

For another comparison of PC/Online banking services and fees by US banks visit Bankrate.com at this URL: http://www.bankrate.com/brm/publ/onlifees.asp

For a ranking of top US internet banks in Fall 2001 based on ease of use, customer confidence, on-site resources, relationship services, and overall cost, visit Gomez.com at: http://www.gomez.com/scorecards/index.asp? topcat_id=1§ion=Gomezwire

For Canadian Bank Ratings

A poll done on Canadians by market research firm NFO Cfgroup showed about 24 per cent of adult Canadians have signed up for on-line banking, compared with about 20 per cent who had logged on during the same period a year earlier. About 61 per cent of respondents said they clicked their accounts once a week, while 82 per cent reported using on-line banking at least once a month.

The study also found that online banking is less likely to be used for more complicated transactions such as opening accounts, taking out loans or applying for mortgages.

View the 2001 Canadian Online Banking Report by Moneysense.ca at: http://www.moneysense.ca/eng/banking_credit/banking/online_banking/sho wcontent.jsp?cid=576275

Or for those who wish to do their own research, here are the web addresses for major US and Canadian banks offering online services. Happy banking!

US Banks

American Bank www.pcbanker.com American Express Centurion Bank www.americanexpress.com/banking Bank Caroline www.bankcaroline.com Bank of America www.bankofamerica.com Bank One www.bankone.com BankAtlantic www.bankatlantic.com BankDirect www.bankdirect.com Chase Manhattan Bank www.chase.com Citibankwww.citibank.com Claritybank.comwww.claritybank.com E*TRADE Bankwww.etradebank.com Ebankwww.ebank.com
everbank.comwww.everbank.com Fidelity Deposit and Discount Bankwww.the-fidelity.com First Internet Bank of Indianawww.firstib.com First Union National Bankwww.firstunion.com Flagstar Bankwww.flagstarbanking.com Fleet National Bankwww.fleet.com NBank www.nbank.com
NetBankwww.netbank.com
Nexity Bankwww.nexitybank.com Pennsylvania State ECUwww.psecu.com SouthTrust Bankwww.southtrust.com Stonebridge Bankwww.stonebridgebank.com U.S. Bankwww.usbank.com
USAccess Bankwww.usaccessbank.com VirtualBankwww.virtualbank.com Wachovia Bankwww.wachovia.com Washington Mutual Bankwww.washingtonmutual.com Wells Fargo Bankwww.wellsfargo.com Woodforest National Bankwww.woodforest.com

Canadian Banks

TD Canada Trustwww.tdcanadatrust.com Bank of Montrealwww.bmo.com Royal Bankwww.rbc.com
Scotiabankwww.scotiabank.ca CIBCwww.cibc.com
Citizen's Bankwww.citizensbank.ca President's Choicewww.preschoicefinancial.com National Bankwww.nbc.ca

Jim Slobodzian, BComm (Hon) publishes the Enroute.ca E-MONEY GUIDE providing free weekly news, commentary and tips on moving money online. http://www.enroute.ca or email info@enroute.ca