What you can do if you want your bank to offer e-banking services or offer better online features.

As the number of online banks increases, so do the number of online banking customers. One estimate from International Data Corporation is that households conducting online banking would increase from 6.6 million in 1998 to 32 million by 2003. Jupiter Communications, an e-commerce analyst, has predicted that the number of world top 10 online banking households will grow from 3.8 million 1998 to more than 26 million by 2003. Jupiter estimates that will be about 25 percent of all U.S. banking households in that year. Jupiter forecasts that by 2003, 18 million U.S. household swill be receiving their bills online.

One demographic that online bank customers have in common is that they are dealing with a nice-size income. Jupiter estimates that 69 percent of online banking households make over $50,000.The firm predicts this will decrease by 2003, when only 59 percent of the online banking households will make more than$50,000. More and more of us are expected to own home computers,understand how e-banking works, and trust the security systems.

Why You Should Join the Online Crowd

Although there are many reasons to bank online, we’ve narrowed the number down to 10. If you can relate to any of these, go ahead: Begin banking online today.

1. You never will have to wait in a teller line again—You simply log on from home or anywhere in the world and access your accounts directly over the Internet. No one is ever ahead of you, slowing you down.

2. Your bank is never closed—ATM machines brought us this24-hour concept, but with Internet banking, you don’t even have to leave your home. Yes, although an ATM allows us to get cash at any time, it definitely isn’t the best tool to conduct other banking transactions 24 hours a day. With e-banking,you don’t ever have to put yourself at risk of a crime by going to an ATM late at night. When you e-bank from home,you can view your accounts, pay bills, transfer funds, and conduct a long list of other functions at anytime, day or night.

3. You have direct access to your accounts—It’s a hassle to go to your bank and ask for a printout of your statement in the middle of the month. You don’t have to worry about that anymore.You can pull up your balances and view transactions at any time. You can see whether a check has cleared or whether direct deposit has been placed into your account.