• Ebanking is an efficient way to manage your finances.Man Using Laptop at Home image by evillager from Fotolia.com
  
  People all over the world use the Internet to simplify their lives. They use it to learn, communicate, shop and bank. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, consumers spent nearly $135 billion online in 2009. As electronic commerce has grown, electronic banking, or ebanking has grown with it.
  
  

Convenience

• With ebanking you can manage your accounts from the privacy of your own home. You don't need to go to the bank and stand in line. You don't have to keep deposit or withdrawal slips handy. You can save your financial activity online, so you can print bank statements if you need them instead of handling paper copies. All you need is an Internet connection and your online bank will do the rest.
  
  

Speed

• If you bank online, you can transfer funds, withdraw money or make payments in seconds. You can access your accounts and handle your financial affairs quickly. All banks have different policies and the rules governing the availability of funds can vary by financial institution, but completing transactions online is fast and easy.
  
  

Ease

• With ebanking all you need is an account number and a password. You don't need to know how to operate any complicated software program or banking system. You don't need any paperwork. Just sign in from any secure computer and a good ebanking site will clearly indicate how to access your personal banking information. To prove your identity, you may need to answer secret questions that you have chosen when you set up your account.
  
  

Access

• Online banks are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can sign in and access your account long after your brick and mortar bank closes. You can access your online bank virtually any time you need to, from anywhere in the world. Since most banks offer the option to bank online, you'll never be far away from your bank, no matter where you are.
  
  

Options

• Some ebanking sites allow you to purchase and manage other financial instruments such as mortgages, personal loans and lines of credit. Some offer an automatic bill-paying system so you can pay bills using your bank account. You can even direct your bank to pay bills on specified dates each month, so you don't have to remember when they're due. If you use this option, you won't have to write checks or buy stamps to mail bills.