According to the Online Banking Report , about four to five million American households, or about 5 percent of all American households, currently use online banking. Jupiter Communications, which tracks the online industry, predicts 13 million Americans will bank through a home computer by the year 2000. Internet bankers use an institution's Web site to pay bills, transfer money and balance a checkbook. PC banking is when the customer connects to a bank via an 800 phone number and operates on a private network. Either way, many banks provide the same services such as viewing recent transactions, credit card activity and current balances.
Consumers can also transfer money or pay bills online.
According to Jim Bruene, who publishes a monthly newsletter about the online industry, home banking did not succeed during its first 10 years but grew in the mid- 1990s when people bought modems and hooked up to the Internet. Bruene said that convenience is the key for many financial institutions, which market their online banking services to customers who want an easier way to bank. Customers also can manage money and bills on their own schedule, which means they do not have to waste a lunch hour or leave work early to bank. The service provides convenience to the customer. Cost savings benefit banks that provide online services and industry officials say that electronic banking will shrink operating costs over a period of time.