Managing Your Current Account Online

• Guides
• Published: 16 Oct 2008 in Money and Current Accounts

Probably the single most significant invention of recent times has been the internet and all of the online activities that go with it that we’ve grown accustomed to. With services available around the clock, at the click of a button, queuing for counter service has become a thing of the past. Wherever you happen to be and whatever you happen to be doing, the current account at your bank is accessible online 24 hours a day.

In fact internet access to all our normal, everyday banking needs has taken off so rapidly and has become so widespread that no bank worth its salt can afford not to make such access available to its customers. It’s no longer the preserve of a few specialist internet banks; it’s a facility open to virtually everyone who has a current account.

What you can do online

So, what are the ways in which you can manage your current account online? Here are just a few of the ways you can manage your account from the comfort of your own home, at the touch of a button:

• Review your account balances;
• Transfer funds between your accounts;
• Pay bills
• Give instructions for Direct Debits
• Give instructions for standing orders.

Most online banking web pages also allow you to correspond with your bank by email. When attempting to ask questions by email that involve sending any of your personal details, however, it’s vitally important to remember that such electronic correspondence is not yet as secure as other forms of communication. Queries that require you to divulge potentially sensitive information, therefore, should continue to be addressed to your bank either by postal correspondence, by telephone or in person, over the counter.

Security

In fact, you’ll find that your bank has gone to considerable lengths to ensure that you manage your accounts online as safely and as securely as possible. They will have developed leading-edge programmes to protect your personal and financial data, usually encrypting all the information stored and ensuring that your unique log in details are known only to you.

In these days, when the computer has revolutionised the way we do things not just as work, but in the home also, it is difficult to imagine how we managed before the age of online banking. The advantages and benefits brought to us by managing a current account online are many and varied, but include the ability to:

• Manage almost all of our finances and cashflow from wherever it suits us;
• Save time by managing our accounts, transferring funds and paying bills without the need to visit the bank, wait in line and finally talk to a bank teller;
• Arrange for payments now or at some future date to any business or individual with a UK bank account;
• Order cheque books, deposit books or make enquiries.

There’s almost no limit to the range and diversity of accounts you can manage online. Typically, you might have a mortgage account, a savings account and a current account, all of which can be managed online. You can transfer funds between accounts and ensure that you get maximum benefit, with the shortest possible response time, from the money you have with your bank.

The benefits

By managing your current account online:

• You have immediate, 24/7 access to all your everyday banking needs
• You can save precious time by avoiding visits to your branch
• Your transactions are securely protected by the latest internet technology; and
• It’s all at the click of a button from the comfort of your own home