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 Money
Page > Bank
Accounts > Internet Bank Account - UK Guide
 In a
nutshell
A bank account that is managed online via
the Internet.
Best
Bank Account For
Anybody with regular and secure
Internet access that wants to bring their bank account
online.
Special
features
Internet bank accounts can make it
incredibly easy to access and manage your money as you are
given complete control of what you do and when you do it. So,
they have no restrictions on when you can access your account,
for example, and you won't be stuck with bank opening hours.
Internet bank accounts are generally available 24 hours a day
and seven days a week.
So, you can check balances, move
money, make payments and order cheque books, for example, all
from your own PC. And, as the majority of banks nowadays offer
Internet access to their standard bank accounts, you can even
use Internet banking for existing high street accounts without
having to change accounts/banks. So, if you prefer, you can
mix and match Internet banking with high street banking if
that's what suits you best. You can even access your Internet
bank account from other PCs anywhere in the world. So, if
you're on holiday abroad, for example, you can still get into
your account if you need to do something. Many specific
Internet banks are also able to give higher rates of interest
for your bank account if you're in credit, simply because
their expenses are lower than traditional high street banks.
So, you may find that your money earns more with an Internet
bank account than it would if you ran it in the traditional
manner. This is also true of high street bank accounts - banks
want to encourage online banking as it is generally cheaper
for them. You'll also find that banks are extremely committed
to security and safety online - so you also don't need to
worry about how secure Internet banking and your money is.
What to
look out for
Some specialist Internet banks may
charge you for services that high street banks offer as
standard. So, for example, you may be given a cash card with
your account but you may only be able to use it at certain
types of ATM without charge. Use it elsewhere on the high
street and you may be charged for the transaction. It's worth
spending some time looking at the terms and conditions for
this kind of charge before you choose an Internet bank
account. Getting used to Internet banking can take some time -
especially if you use a stand-alone online bank with no high
street associations. You may need to pay in money by post, for
example or to rely on telephone calls or emails if you have
queries. Although all banks offering Internet services tend to
be incredibly committed to developing and using secure
technology there is no cast-iron guarantee that your account
will be safe from hacking and other types of Internet fraud.
You may be wise, therefore, to fit out your PC with a firewall
to give you some added protection. Although your rights in
these cases are generally protected - as long as you take care
of your account details - this may not always be the case so
you should be careful to make your own use of any Internet
bank account as secure as possible. You should also think
about whether the PC you'll primarily use and its Internet
connection are suited to online banking if you'll be using
this kind of account regularly. Any PC can potentially be used
for this kind of account - as long as it meets certain
performance standards - but, if your connection or PC is slow
or erratic, then you just won't get the best out of an
Internet bank account and you may find the whole process quite
frustrating.
Alternatives
If
you're worried about any of the issues with online account
management for an Internet bank account then you can always
look at standard high street accounts as an
alternative.
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