Online Banking

Save the planet and bank online! No, seriously. Think about it: when you bank online you're eliminating the need for paper statements, check writing, mini statements, ATM balance inquiries... and therefor you are eliminating the need for excess energy, like the gas to get to the bank, the energy used to chop the trees, to get it to the paper plant, sending it to the printers, mailing it to you...

There are other reasons to bank online too: it makes it easier to track your cash. You can find out what part of your balance is available vs. unavailable. You can see which of your checks have cleared and which have not and you can see how far into your credit line you are. You can also pay your bills without the price of postage, checks and waiting around for your check to clear. And transfers are a breeze- so if you're diligent about your banking you will avoid countless fees.

Ok, ok, so online banking's great, but Karl and Sally are still concerned about security. Is online banking safe? Oh hell yes. Do you really think that banks can afford to be insecure in their online practices? Putting their money into extra security will save banks millions of dollars in expenses from liabilities in the long run. The banking commissions are already on the side of consumers as far as fraud, identity theft and recovery goes- forcing banks to foot the bill for the research, the lawyers and ultimately the cost of the fraud- so they won't risk any further money by skimping now. In fact, online banking through your own banking network, especially in the case of bill payments is more secure than giving the company you are paying your account information. Once you have done that, you may inadvertently have authorized them to take out more payments than you originally thought you were authorizing or make it very difficult to cancel future services from that company.

Any other questions?