Online Banking: PROs over CONs?

In today’s era where people go for mobility and convenience, and where Internet is basically a tool to make it happen, the rise of online banking is totally expected.

New to online banking? It’s right to check out the pros and cons first, before diving in. Ready? Read along…

In this article, we’ll provide you a list which will show you the pros and cons of online banking. Check them out and tell us what you think by sharing your thoughts in the comments section below.

PROs of Online Banking

1. Faster Credit and Billing Payments

If you have a credit card, you’re aware that not paying your bills on time will accumulate interest or extra charge. Same goes for other bills. It may not have additional charges, but some will cut their services immediately once you didn’t pay them on their specific deadlines i.e. electricity or phone and/or internet bills. With those in mind, having the access to pay those bills via online banking will surely take off those burdens. It’s the accessibility which we like about it. You can literally pay your bills anytime and anywhere.

2. Monitor Cashflows Anywhere

Whether you’re a traveller/tourist or a hermit/homebody, monitoring your money transactions anywhere will surely give you some sort of comfort knowing that your money is intact and well-accounted for. If you’re a traveller, sometimes you would like to monitor your expenses immediately and with online banking, it is possible. All you need is an internet connection and your mobile phone. If you’re more of a homebody, online banking is still for you since you wouldn’t have to leave you place to accomplish this task.
Some banks even let you choose on its viewing format. You can either view it by daily transactions or through extracting the Statement of Accounts. Yes, it’s definitely CONVENIENT!

3. Forced Savings through Scheduled Funds Transfer

If you have online access to both your savings and payroll account, check if your online bank offers “scheduled funds transfer”. Let this be your favorite feature. Set it up so that every payday it will automatically transfer a specific amount from your payroll to savings account. It will forced you to save a specific amount every month. It’s a good thing. It will help you reach your financial goals.

4. Provides Withdrawal Notification through E-mail or SMS

Most banks offer this kind of feature. Check your settings and make sure to activate it. This feature will let you know via email or SMS the moment a transfer or withdrawal was made from you bank accounts. It’s a security feature so that you will be informed in case an unauthorized transaction has been made. And, if that’s the case, you may report it to your bank immediately.

5. Saves Time, No Queue, No Transportation Fee

At the bank, you will usually have to line up or wait for your turn before a teller attends to your transactions. If you’re lucky, you wouldn’t have to wait and the teller will assist you immediately. It will be around 5-10min before the teller accomplish the task. For some, that’s fast enough. Yet, transportation time and fee weren’t considered. What if on your way there, you’ll be caught up in traffic? Plus, you will have to add the preparation time you need to fill up forms and prepare checks and/or money.

CONs of Online Banking

1. Security – Phishing

Recently, I got this notification from my bank reminding me to be wary of fake phishing websites. This fake website aims to get our personal info which will help them decode our online banking username and passwords. Don’t worry the security feature for mobile / online banking is at par and goes beyond standards, meaning it’s definitely hard to crack. But, if we let the bad guys get our personal info by filling up a form like in the “fake” website photo, then we’re technically giving them the right to access our bank account the easy way. They don’t need to hack it. They will just login based from the info we provided them with. Lesson of the story: BE VIGILANT! Be suspicious and always check if the website’s main URL belongs to your bank. Here’s an example of a Phishing Email and a Phishing Website for your reference. Find out more about different types of phishing scams by checking Comparitech’s comprehensive article entitled “Common phishing scams and how to recognise and avoid them“.

2. Transaction Issues

Sometimes during online money transfer or bills payment, you will get a notification that your transaction was unsuccessful. If this happens, you may want to check your balance first before re-hitting the submit button. This is to be sure that you wouldn’t fall for a double transaction caused by incorrect notifications.

3. Server is Under Maintenance

A downtime, may it be expected like a scheduled maintenance activity or not, will surely cause you some delay in accomplishing your online banking tasks. If scheduled maintenance, this will usually last from 30 to 60 minutes. During this time, your online banks will request for you to access their site again once it’s up and running.

4. Operator Error – Self Error

Since there is no teller who will recheck our input, it’s possible to commit some errors during online money transfer. It will happen if we’re not used to rechecking the bank account number and unintentionally indicate a wrong digit in it. If you’re lucky, it will notify you that no one owns that specific bank account number. But if you’re not, your money will be transferred to another person. This case has less chance in getting your money back.

With all those points, pros and cons alike, what do you think of online banking? Will you still go for it? Let me know what you think by hitting up the comments section below. 🙂

References:

http://www.nasdaq.com/article/the-pros-and-cons-of-online-banking-cm386361
http://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/11/benefits-and-drawbacks-of-internet-banks.asp
https://www.bpiexpressonline.com/p/0/6/online-banking
https://www.comparitech.com/blog/information-security/common-phishing-scams-how-to-avoid/
Photo is taken from https://www.pexels.com/

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