Just about every major bank including Barclays, The Halifax, Natwest, Lloyds TSB, HSBC and The Abbey National now offer online banking so what is so great about online banking and why should I get a bank account that has online banking?



Online banking is a great advancement in banking as it is very convenient and easy to use, there are however some issues to look out for but on the whole online banking is useful, convenient and safe. Online banking offers you access to your bank account online, you can view your statement at any time of day and you can also make payments using your bank account. These payments can include bill payments or transferring money into another bank account, this could be into a savings account or to pay any other person that has a bank account. With online banking you can also do other activities such as arrange standing orders and apply for an overdraft, you can also order items such as cheque books and paying in books but the main reason for using online banking is the convenience of banking at home.

To get a bank account that has online banking you do not have to do much at all, most of the major banks including The Halifax, Barclays, Lloyds TSB, Natwest, HSBC and The Abbey National offer bank accounts with online banking. Some of these bank accounts require you to apply for the online banking once you have the bank account set up, this means that if you already have a bank account you will probably be able to use the online banking if you apply for it on the banks web site and if you do not have a bank account you simply choose a major bank and apply for a bank account. You can apply for a bank account at most of the major bank's web sites and once you have the bank account you can easily apply for online banking if it is not already set up.

There are also banks that are totally online and do not have branches in the high street, the advantage of this is that they can usually offer better value as they have lower costs. If you are used to online banking then one of these banks are a great choice as everything is done online or through the post, you do of course still get a debit card so can use cash machines and pay for shopping using the debit card but everything else is done online. Popular banks that are only available online include First Direct and Smile.

To use online banking you simply have to log in on the bank's web site, the online banking services are very secure so usually require some personal information such as your date of birth, a PIN number and a password. This is a very good thing as it means that it is very secure and no-one else will be able to access your bank account, you should never share these with anyone else or write them down as doing so could allow someone access to your bank account. There is also a popular scam going around where criminals send emails that appear to be from a major bank asking for your log in details, these are never from the actual bank as they would never ask for this information in an email so never reply to these emails as they are scams.

So online banking is easy to set up, safe and very convenient to use, there are other ways of accessing simple bank account information such as text message but they do not offer the functionality that online banking offers, in fact you can do most things online that you usually do in your local bank. If you wish to use online banking and do not have a bank account then we suggest major online banks such as HSBC, The Halifax, The Abbey National , Lloyds TSB, Barclays or Natwest.