Internet Banks are here to stay like it or not.
Surprizingly in India the there is no true internet bank i.e a bank which is present only on internet with no physical branch whatsoever.
So we have banks who have physical network and use internet as a channel for client servicing.
Some of the more prominent bank in Internet Space in India are: ICICI BANK, HDFC, IDBI amongst Indian Banks, Citi Bank and Standard Chartered amongst the foreign banks.
I have accounts with ICICI bank in Delhi and Mumbai and I have Stan Charts Credit Card so have first hand experience in using there services.
Net Banking is useful for people who are very busy, travel a lot work in Shifts e.g in a Call Center, live far from a bank and specially who hate to stand in a que!
Some of the typical services provided by a good bank on Internet are:
Balance Inquiry
Funds Transfer amongst your accounts and other accounts.
Bill payment for services like phone, electricity at the click of the mouse.
Demat account for your Stocks and Bonds including seamless trading.
Payment for your purchases on Internet.
ATM cards to withdraw money from your account at any time.
Ordering a cheque book.
I particulary like ICICI BANK as they have all services under one roof and you can open single account and it takes care of all your needs online except for printing currency on your printer. Sadly for getting cash you have to get off your couch and drive to the nearest ATM, what a pity. I hope some of the banks are working toward that. Till that time one has to go to ATM.
Precautions: I would suggest go to a reputed bank which is not in headlines for wrong reasons. As some of these private banks are realatively new and one is not sure how long some of them will be around.
While doing your net banking try to avoid Cybercafes as the machines and network there are typically unsafe and some body may steal your user id and password. Always close down the browser once your work is done for sercurity purpose. Never give your user Id and password to any body.
It is safer to use the banks gateway payment than using Credit Card on the net.
If you are a heavy online shopper and want to use your credit card it is a good thing to have a credit card that works only on the internet( It is kind of a virtual card)
The fees a bank is going to charge you for these services play a very important role as you don’t want to pay hefty service fees to go to an ATM or to transfer funds between your accounts.
Always remember you are doing a big favor to the bank by keeping your money with the bank as bank will use this money to give loans to others( may be you only)at a higher rate and make a hefty profit. So the bank should not charge hefty fees to provide these services to you.
Finally support services are important. They sould have a 24hour call center where you should be able to call and and get whatever information you want to have. Some people use this service to vent their anger for their Boss/Spouse on the CSRs of banks which is kind of a side dish to all the conveniences of net banking.
So go ahead get a net banking account life is too short to stand in Q to withdraw your own money or to find out if your salary has been credited or not.