After such a historical period of Demonetisation in 2016, digital banking grasped people’s interest swiftly. Today most banks have already launched their own mobile applications and websites for online banking. Online banking provides almost all the banking services with additional perks of online internet banking. Internet banking is known for being convenient and safer than the traditional banking system. Let’s know more about internet banking.

What is Internet Banking?

Internet banking is also known as Net banking, online banking, or digital banking. Internet banking was introduced to make the banking system more convenient and safer.  It’s a payment system that allows users to make their financial transactions or payments from anywhere using the internet. Internet banking provides all the services that traditional banking allows like fund transfers, deposits, bill payments, etc. 

To get the benefits of internet banking, one has to register for online banking at the bank. After the registration, Users don’t need to visit the bank for further steps. Everything will be taken care of digitally. Internet banking saves you lots of time and may get consumed in queues of the banks. It also provides online bill-paying facilities, which often come with discounts and cashback. All the unique IDs and passwords make internet banking secure as well. 

 Features of internet banking:

1. Internet banking not just allows users access to financial services but also non-financial banking services. 
2. It allows users 24 hours of banking services, so users can check their bank balance any time they want. 
3. It made the payment of bills and fund transfers a lot easier and faster. 
4. Digital banking makes Keeping track of loans and savings linked to the account lot convenient as you can check digital statements any time you want. You can also schedule your instalments as you like. 
5. Travelling with a large sum of money to deposit or pay can be very unsafe. Internet banking allows users to pay these deposits digitally, which makes it secure. 
6. After registration for an Online Banking account bank provides a unique ID and password. 
7. Non-financial banking services like the issuance of chequebooks can be done digitally. 
8. It allows users to buy general insurance digitally. 
9. You can schedule or cancel any automatic recurring payments anytime you want. 
10. Keep a check on investments linked to the bank account.
11. It allows users to keep a keen tab on digital assets. 

How to create an online banking account? 

You can create an online banking account by going to the bank as well as with the use of your mobile phone. Just follow the steps below:-

Bank

• To create an online banking account, one has to register for online banking services at their respective bank
• To register, users have to fill out a form asking for the banking details of the account they want to register (mobile number, account number, Aadhaar number, and IFSC code)
• After registration, the bank provides you with a unique ID and password. You need these for log-in or sign-in later

Online Banking Application

• Download the application of the bank whose account you are going to use on your mobile phone.
• Fill in and submit the banking details you get asked for and verify yourself through your mobile number
• After the verification, you will receive your unique ID and password to log in to internet banking

How to use Online Banking safely?

Continuing progress in the digital world is making our life easy but it’s also finding loopholes to enter into private life. Frauds or phishing using technology is not very rare in today’s world. To keep using the advantages of online banking securely, here are some tips that can be useful. 

•  Use trustworthy antivirus software

To make sure your computer is safe from malware, phishing and other security threats always use trustworthy antivirus software.

• Never use open WI-FI AND VPN

The use of open Wi-Fi should be avoided as there might be a chance that there is a hacker on the other end. The hacker can easily trace information on your device and can introduce malware to it Which can damage your device and data. Users should never use the internet payment option using public wifi. VPN is software that encrypts the data. So it will be harder to hack but users must always make sure about the potential of the VPN they are using. 

• Keep your devices updated 

Keeping your device updated helps to make sure that the device is safe. Keeping your smartphone locked also provides higher security. 

• Changing password and PIN –

“Never share your PIN” are the words we hear almost every time in banking advertisements. Still, some unaware and gullible people fall for the frauds and end up losing money. Today, we have a double confirmation system that asks for confirmation before deducting money. Users should adopt this system. One should change the Password if they feel even a bit insecure about it and make sure to keep a strong password to keep their money safer. 

• Check your account regularly

Make sure to keep track of your bank account. In case you sense some suspicious behaviour, contact your bank and report the issue immediately. 

• Never use public computers for net banking

Using a public computer for net banking can put your bank details at high risk. However, if it’s a case of emergency, make sure to clean all the cache, history, and temporary files from the public computer after you are done. Make sure you never click yes to the browser on “remember your ID and password.” You can also try using incognito mode

• ON SMS alerts 

SMS alerts are a better option than always keeping track of your banking account as the application or bank will send you an alert at any suspicious behaviour, not just transactions. These SMS alerts are hardly unnoticed which provides a safer online banking experience. 

• Do not click or download without thinking

Users should definitely avoid clicking on clickbait or installing something fishy. As it can be possible that it may introduce some malware to your device.