Opening a checking account on the internet

Checking accounts are very much necessary in order to lead a normal life these days. You can write checks, you can attach a debit card to the account; you can enable automated payments etc. but when you go for an online checking account, you will get all the benefits that you normally get with a regular checking account along with some added bonuses. An online account is basically very convenient to operate and maintain compared to a regular paper, brick and mortar checking account.

The following are the steps that you need to take in order to open an online checking account,

Firstly, scout around and look for the best fit for your needs. There are literally hundreds of banks that offer online checking accounts. And each one of them has different requirements. Also many of the banks will require you to pay a fee in order to open an account with them. The requirements can range from a social security number to a drivers license to even a referral from someone who already has an account with the bank.

After you open a normal checking account with the bank, the next step is to go about opening an online banking account. Most banks will offer this free of cost to first time customers. An online account is just an added advantage to you which will ease your operations on the account. In fact it is of great use to the bank because they would save on paper cost and also people cost by letting you manage your transactions online. Opening an online account will not require any additional documentation. You will just have to provide the bank with a letter of intent stating that you require an online banking account. There will be no additional fee for operating an online account.

 When you open an online account, you will need to provide a username and password in order to access the account. There are a number of things that you can do with an online account. You can deposit cash into the account. There are a number of ways to do this. You can set up an online transfer. To do this, you will need the routing number of the bank and also your account number. This way, you can ask your family or friends to directly deposit funds into the account. They can even send money from overseas accounts as long as that bank has a routing number or an online transfer option. Obviously when you do overseas transfers in anything but dollar amounts, you will have to pay exchange fees. And for any amount less than a certain threshold; you will have to pay additional transfer fees. Hence it is always better to send large amounts of money at one time rather than a little money every now and then.

Opening an online account has many advantages. But you need to be aware that online accounts have many drawbacks. One of the greatest problems with them is that your identity can be stolen and your money can be taken away from you without you even knowing about it. It’s not like a regular brick and mortar bank where if there is a robbery, your money will be returned since it is insured. But in an online account, if there is a robbery there is no recourse option available. Hence you always need to be careful with your password and username.