Online Banking

Online Banking

I intend to review two online banking website these, include both Barlceys.com and Abbey.com.

The purposes of both these websites are very similar; both are used for a verity of the following:

o Transfer money from account to account

o Checking the consumers balance online

o Checking recent and dated transaction of money from a particular card or account

o Managing both personal details, informing of email or house address change

o Setting up regular debit transaction from particular cards to either other accounts, business or personal.

o Setting up of services including both loans, mortgages, insurance and new credit cards

All of these above are valid reason for using an online banking website, there options are varied and each consumer uses there online account for different reasons. However the audience aimed at those for online banking is very wide spread, it ranges throughout everyone who has a card set up and the online banking scheme similarly.

Online banking therefore can be used by anyone, this allows for the details of both the bank balance and that of a personal nature to be displayed at any time in the day. This has a major advantage over that of real banks as in recent years there have been hard to contact in person if you work a five day week, due to their opening hours.

However as online banking has become increasingly more popular the threat of security revolving around ones money too has become an issue. Fishing scams are the most used way of criminals stealing a consumers bank details, and has commonly become known as identity theft.

Here fake WebPages are displayed to try and trick the consumer into entering their bank and personal details. With this the criminal can use them to purchase almost anything they want online and even transfer large sums of money through accounts with the correct details.

To counteract this banks and websites alike have in posed increased security measures to protect consumers funds from being stolen, multiple passwords, security questions and code generators are all used in today’s society to try and prevent the problems caused by identity theft.

Similar using services such as PayPal and Google Checkout make the transfer of funds more secure and safer for a customer. With PayPal funds can be transferred whilst being protected as the seller does not receive the funds until the buyer receives the items. There are of course rules for process and claims can be settled throughout the business, meaning money is protected especially where it is most often lost, in auction sites such as eBay.

The problems surrounding Online Banking do derive from mainline fears from that of the consumer; the idea of having their money stolen or lost is an increasing concern. However the internet pricing and wide array of products can seem to be somewhat irresistible, therefore many nowadays do give into temptation and part with their virtual cash. Stores such as Play.Com and Amazon rely on the company’s name to ensure that customer remain to have their faith in the business and continue to buy. As both are well established they both have security measures in place and make sure that customer satisfaction is a top priority. Due to this both sites have introduced the idea of reviewing, here customers can post comments on products that they have already purchased, this provides not only important useful information and what to and what not to buy, but increase trust within the store and is a clever marketing tool of reassuring the customer that there product will be received both in the conditions described and to satisfaction.

The two banks I wish to review both implement important security procedures that make hacking into them near impossible. Barclays’ bank has implanted the use of personal logins, meaning firstly a Personal ID, Pass code and Registration Number must be entered, secondly there is a security check in which three letters from a key word must be entered and finally for those wanting to check personal finance and transfer funds a key generated login must be use to certify that the person trying to access the accounts, is in fact the card holder. All this information throughout is used to access the account of a card holder and although both Barclay’s and Abbey differ slightly in how logging in operates, they both share the fundamental values of high security and impose strict checks to make sure the customer is who they are said to be. The issues with security today within Online banking are major issues and as customers the concern over security is great, due to this the customer generally has to apply for the set up of online banking with a branch when it comes to viewing funds within a banks website.

Overall the idea of online banking within banks is seen as a revolution however to some, the idea of transferring over “virtual money” is seen to be a little unnerving, many today still see it as being unsafe no matter what both the banks and online shops say and due to this there will always be those who are sceptical of entering personal details online. Both my banks claim to have the upmost security possible within the accounts of the card holder however; the roots of identity theft are generally down to human error, and naivety within a consumer. Fishing scams become increasing more apparent as websites less inclined to dealing with electronic transfer move into a digital stage they start off lacking in security measures it is here that human error causes identity theft, however it is also here that the services of PayPal and other secure transfer site flourish. In today’s economic climate money is tight and loosing it to some may be disastrous, banks regularly impose security checks within their website to protect consumers from handing over details on a website however, to some consumers even these can be seen as fishing scams.

The idea of virtual money transfer will be brought to a new height as both Nokia and Barclays declare their aspirations for money transfer wirelessly across phones Bluetooth, mobile banking here is seen to be unnerving again for some however fundamental it shares interesting prospects. Although it will sure to be slow to set off once up and running it is sure that mobile banking will prove to be a success and funds will be able to be transferred anywhere anytime wirelessly.