What is so cool is that the Bank of America online banking system is
fully accessible to the blind.  For those in the Chicago area, Bank of
America is coming in 2003.  Crain's Chicago Business reported last week
that the bank will open 50 branches next year.

Kelly


Check it out: Online bank accounts pay

By Mike Himowitz
Baltimore Sun

November 14, 2002

Shortly after our marriage, I committed a cardinal sin: I bounced a
check.

My bride was mortified, and rightly so, because she worked for a bank in
those days, and spent a fair amount of time showing little old ladies how
to balance their checkbooks and avoid the very embarrassment that I had
caused.

The result: She assumed control of the family finances, and for the past
30 years I've been allowed access to the checkbook only under strict
supervision. Which has worked out just fine.

While this beautiful and capable woman spends Sunday afternoons
negotiating the invoices and bank statements, I get to watch football,
interrupted only by an occasional outburst of salty language when her
numbers don't add up. Our bills get paid on time and our bank account is
in the black. In short, I'm a lucky guy.

The only downside to this arrangement is occasional embarrassment when
someone asks what software I use to manage my finances. As the tech guru,
I'm supposed to know all about that stuff. So I've always replied that my
checkbook balancer is system-independent, user-friendly and doesn't want
to be replaced by a computer.

But times change, and so does technology. Several months ago, I checked
the Bank of America Web site and noticed that online banking - including
bill-paying - was now free for new enrollees, instead of an additional
$10 a month. The system also seemed easy to navigate.

But the biggest surprise? After years of rejecting my occasional
suggestion that something more advanced than a $5 calculator might make
her job easier, my wife decided it was time to give technology a try. So,
we joined 24 million other Americans who are banking online.

According to Jupiter Research, that's twice the number of customers who
were banking online two years ago. The firm projects that more than 40
million will be online by the end of 2005.

There are several reasons for the increase, according to researchers and
analysts. First, there's a change in consumer behavior - more people are
comfortable conducting business over the Internet. Also, for many of us,
carrying a checkbook is no longer a day-to-day necessity. We use ATMs for
cash, credit cards for larger purchases, and checks to pay bills at the
end of the month.

Second, banks are starting to improve their Web sites, promote online
services and eliminate fees for using them. This is in their interest,
because online transactions cost less to process. Collectively, banks
expect to save hundreds of millions by eliminating as many paper
transactions as possible.

They've also found that satisfied online checking customers tend to stick
with their banks longer than the average account holder. Our experience
certainly has been a good one so far.

Just realize that to set up online banking, you'll have to do some work
up front.

First, consider that there are two ways to use online banking to pay your
bills. Once is to authorize a direct electronic transfer to a payee who
accepts them. Most credit card companies, national retailers and
utilities accept online payments. Bank of America (BOA) says these
payments will be made within two days, which is less advance time than
you'd normally need with a paper check.

For payees who don't accept electronic transfers, such as local
merchants, doctors, dentists and the guy who mows the lawn, the bank will
issue a check on your behalf and mail it. Generally, you'll have to
provide the bank with the number of the account you have with a merchant
to identify your payment. Otherwise, the check will arrive with your name
and address but no other information.

BOA says checks will generally be delivered within five days, which is
about how long my wife allowed for our paper checks to arrive in the
mail. The difference is that BOA deducts the payment from our account the
moment it's authorized; with a paper check, the money stays in our
account until the payee deposits it.

That's a hidden cost of online banking - the bank gets a better float
from your money. For people with a lot of dough at one end of the
spectrum, or less-fortunate folks who are constantly skirting overdrafts
on the other, this might be a big deal. But because we don't fit into
either category, giving up the float is well worth the convenience.

The hardest part of the job (and not very hard at that) was setting up
our payees. For those who accept online transactions, it was a matter of
picking their names from a list on BOA's Web site and adding our account
number. To set up non-electronic payees, we had to type in their names
and addresses, too. My wife did the job over several weeks as our bills
fell due.

It's also easy to set up automatic payments for recurring expenses such
as mortgage or car payments.

That done, paying bills is a snap. BOA displays a Web page with a single
form that lists all of our established payees. Next to each name, my wife
enters the amount of the payment and the date it's to be paid - a nice
feature if we're going on vacation and want to have our bills paid
automatically when they're due. When she's through, a single click
authorizes everything. No checks to write, no stamps, no rush to the
mailbox.

Likewise, BOA's well-organized Web site lets us review our payments,
transfer money between accounts, and view or download a continuously
updated statement that shows all our activity - electronic payments,
paper checks, deposits and ATM withdrawals. If we write a paper check,
only the number is recorded electronically, but we can call up a scanned
image of the canceled check to see who it was made out to.

BOA's online system can also interface with Intuit's Quicken and
Microsoft Money for those who handle their finances with these programs.

My wife says she's eliminated 90 percent of the paper checks she used to
write. Balancing the checkbook is much easier, and she can call up a
running statement whenever there's a question. She has only one gripe -
she would like a memo field on the checks the bank writes to
non-electronic payees, so she can explain the payment - for example, a
charitable donation or a single check that covers multiple insurance
policies.

For many potential customers, the biggest question marks in online
banking are reliability and security. BOA and most others offer to
reimburse customers for late charges if the bank fails to make a payment
on its scheduled date. They also say customers won't be liable for
fraudulent use of their accounts.

Eventually, this gets down to a matter of trust. There have been reports
of breaches in online banking security. Most involve leaks of e-mail
addresses and other information, as opposed to embezzlement or fraudulent
access. But nobody knows for sure because banks are notoriously unwilling
to report these incidents (or old-fashioned scams, for that matter).

I figure I take a far greater risk every time I give a credit card to a
waiter who disappears into the back of a restaurant.

For the time being, at least, online banking is a hands-down winner.


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