In the last year all the major banks have either announced that they are now offering their customers internet banking or that they will be offering the service shortly.
Banking from home has a number of advantages you can't get mugged while you are doing transactions, you can take your time without having a queue of people breathing over your shoulder and you can avoid waiting in banks.
But if you need cash or have cheques to deposit, you still need to use ATMs and banks.
Access to internet banking is not available to everyone.
At present not all the banks offer all the internet banking services to all of their customers. For example, some banks only offer the spectrum of services to cheque account holders, not savings account clients.
You may also be prevented from using the service if your PC is not sufficiently powerful. All the banks require you to run windows software there are windows emulators on Apple and Unix machines but these users have reported that they have failed to access internet banking and you usually need to download the bank's encryption software as well.
You have to have an account with an internet service provider which costs about R100 a month and it goes without saying that you also need to have a modem.
Mercantile Lisbon Bank
http://www. mercantile. co.za/bankability/
This site allows customers to pay accounts, view bank statements, order cheque books and traveller's cheques, set up stop orders and also provides foreign exchange and treasury interest rates. Transfers and payments made before a certain time take place the same day, otherwise the following day. You can set up any payment beneficiaries you want without referring to the bank, even making one-off payments, such as paying a hotel deposit, as long as you have the payee's account details. You can also view a full audit trail on everything you have done, including, for example, when you requested a cheque book.
The site was launched at the beginning of August and the bank has been inundated with applications, Lorna Cinnamond, senior manager of the electronic banking department at Mercantile Lisbon Bank, says.
The service is available to all the bank's customers. If you log on to Mercantile's site you can see a demonstration, but to register as a user you have to complete the form available on the web page and take it to a Mercantile Lisbon Bank branch. The bank will give you a profile identification and the basic software on disk afterwards you can download upgraded software from Mercantile's internet site.
Using the bank's internet services costs about R10 a month, with 70c for a transfer between accounts at Mercantile, R1,25 for a transfer to accounts at other banks and R5 a month for the additional tools. These tools include a budget facility and an optimisation programme to show into which of your loans or hire purchase agreements you should make a lump sum payment if you have surplus funds.
There is a 24-hour helpline on 0800 11 99 12 or 0800 11 99 23, which is only closed on public holidays.
Nedbank
http://www. nedbank.co.za
Nedbank claims to be the first to offer secure, full-service banking via the internet. It calls its service NetBank.
Clients can make third party payments to for example settle telephone and shop bills, transfer funds between accounts held at the bank, make foreign exchange rate enquiries, change PIN numbers, make balance enquiries or obtain full or mini-statements.
The service is available to Nedbank cheque, savings, credit card and home loan account holders. If you are already paying accounts and transferring funds electronically using NedTex, the Beltel service or NedTel, the telephone banking service, you can use NetBank immediately. If you don't have an "electronic profile" at Nedbank, you have to complete the application form on the site and take it to your nearest Nedbank electronic centre or branch. For third party transfers you have to go into a branch.
The cost is R22,80 a month and value-based transactions incur half the normal service fee.
Nedbank says in the six months since it launched its 24-hour NetBank, the number of subscribers is already 80 percent of the number who use Beltel, built up over eight years.
Additional services on NetBank are a link to Microsoft Money, a personal financial management programme which can help with budgeting, and to NedCredit, through which a car can be bought.
Nedbank's toll-free helpline is 0800 11 50 60. The help desk is manned 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including public holidays.
First National Bank
http://www.firstonline.fnb.co.za
First National Bank's (FNB) site is called First Online. It enables customers to draw account balances and statements, make account payments, inter-account transfers and request cheque books.
It does not enable customers to draw any credit card information at this stage.
At present the site cannot be used between midnight and 7am or on Sundays, but FNB intends making it a 24-hour service shortly. The reason for the restrictions is to ensure quality systems and technical support in the start-up period, the bank says.
The services are available to current and transmission account holders.
To use the FNB internet service, you have to register with First Direct by telephoning the toll-free number. They will allocate you a password and an account number which enables you to download the site's the encryption and then enter the banking services options. When you are in the banking options you can change your password.
FNB is currently signing up about 35 new clients a day for its internet banking site.
At present First Online users pay an extra R10 a month to use the internet site and R1,40 per financial transaction. This is in addition to your internet account and local telephone charges.
Some of the interesting links on FNB's site are to Wesbank, with all sorts of information to help you buy a car including new car prices and costs of insurance; an online investment service with market reports and daily prices; and an equities site which offers market information and investment advice.
The toll-free number for this site is 0800 11 22 44 from which a help desk operates for extended hours, although not 24 hours a day.
ABSA Bank
(including Allied Bank, TrustBank, United Bank and Volkskas)
http://www.absa.co.za
Although Absa claims to have been the first to launch an internet site, its service is more limited than the other bank's.
Absa customers can use the site to view account statements, request account balances, open cheque accounts and apply for bonds. You cannot make transfers or pay accounts.
The services are only available to current account holders at Allied, TrustBank, United Bank and Volkskas, and savings account holders at TrustBank. Savings account holders at other banks in the group will be able to get into the internet site "in the near future", Absa has promised.
To apply for internet banking you have to fill in a registration form, send it in and when it has been approved you have to visit your nearest Absa branch with identification to collect your user group and internet password.
Absa's internet banking service is free at this stage, apart from local connection charges your internet service account and telephone charges.
Absa says it currently has 2 000 internet home banking users and expects this number to grow to between 10 000 and 20 000 by the end of this year.
Standard Bank
http://www.standardbank.co.za
Standard Bank's internet banking service is available to all those with a Standard Bank credit card or card-based bank account. It is available 24-hours a day, seven days a week.
The service allows customers to make balance enquiries, obtain statements, perform inter-account transfers and pay accounts. Customers can also send messages to their Standard Bank branch and amend their internet banking details.
If you want to set up the system so you can pay third party accounts, you can email the bank or call the bank's hotline. There is no need to visit your branch.
Standard Bank's internet charges are R18 a month. Value-based transactions also incur an electronic banking service fee which varies, as do all the bank's charges, according to the type of account and balance held.
Unlike the formalities required to register for other banks' sites, Standard Bank customers don't have to go to their branches to register. They can do so by calling a toll-free number 08000 25000 which also leads into a help desk manned for extended hours, but not 24 hours a day.
The bank says more than 5 500 customers have registered for its service.
Boland Bank
No site address
Danie Strydom, chief co-ordinator internet at Boland Bank, joined the bank recently to set up its internet service, which is currently in the development stage.
Strydom says internet banking will be available to Boland Bank customers by the end of the year.
It is too early to say what the charges will be.