Online banking has grown in popularity over the years. Online banking helps banks control costs. They no longer have to print and mail statements. This saves the bank of paper supplies, printer ink, envelopes and postage.

Online banking allows customers to manage their accounts better. They can see their daily activities on their accounts without having to wait for a monthly statement to be mailed to them. If a customer forgets who they wrote a check to for example, it can usually be viewed online within a day or two.

Many online banking services have expanded to allow bill pay online as well. This allows customers to pay almost any bill electronically. Car payments, cell phone bills, cable bills etc can all be setup to be paid online. The only drawback with this option is if the customer is running short on cash and needs to delay paying the bill, there really is no way to do this..  The bill is paid online every month. It can also help the forgetful customer avoid late fees and penalties. How many of us have found a bill that fell behind the dresser and realized it hasn’t been paid? The late fees are sometimes more than the bill itself was.

Of course any online account may be hacked and this is certainly a drawback but most banks have gone to great expense to try to insure their customer’s information is secure.