We all know that online banking is here and it’s catching up fast. They seem to cover all your finances, be it interest rates, customer service, Know Your Customer (KYC), and the advantage of 24/7 access to your financial accounts.
The fine line between the two is becoming blurred as more banks introduce their web portals to compete among themselves. However, we are here to assess some pros and cons of keeping your cash in a traditional versus online bank.
Safety and Security
This is one main issue and concern that scares people to go for online banking, but it shouldn’t. Even traditional banks have all your financial data stored in a big data center which could be hacked. Some banks do provide with an assurance to cover up for your losses up to some amount in the event of a hack. You should also keep in mind to avoid doing any online banking on a public or shared WiFi connection, since that’s when your information can be easily obtained by a hacker.
Minimum Balance
Online bankers offer low or zero monthly balances thereby making it friendlier to small depositors. Traditional banks require a maximum of Rs. 1000 to be kept in your savings account without charging you a nominal monthly maintenance fee.
ATMs
You should also consider the locations of the ATMs while opening an account with the bank. After all, banking is all about getting cash when you need it and ATMs need to be accessible. Though you can draw amount from any ATM it is better to draw them from an ATM of the same bank as they do not charge and excess fee while other bank ATMs deduct a small amount upon every transaction.
Customer Care Service
Going online can help people managing money through mails and over phone. Regular banks provide you with talking to someone face-to-face. All banks nowadays have customer care services which are mostly available 24/7. Online banks are rarely, if ever, “closed.” But if you’d rather use a traditional bank to complete your transactions or get questions answered in person, you’ll need to visit your bank during normal business hours and make sure it’s not a bank holiday.
Personal Opinion
Some people would want to have a good relationship with a banker as they see a benefit of getting to know new products and services and getting good financial tips.
The bottom line is if you’re comfortable with technology and don’t feel like you need to visit the bank quite often, online banking is best suitable for you. While on the other hand, if you want to have a good personal relationship with your banker to get some healthy financial advices, regular banks suits you better. All in all online and traditional banks are pretty much neck in neck and comes down to a personal preference.
