Most High Street banks offer a range of electronic banking solutions with increasing functionality as you go up the range, but broadly speaking the solutions can be divided into two groups: Internet banking and PC banking.
Internet banking
Typically, you access your personal bank account details on your bank's Internet banking web site. Features available normally include:
view your bank balance and statement
make pre-defined bill payments
initiate bank transfers
download statement information
The service is secured through user id and password and all activity between your browser and the web site encrypted. Sage and Pegasus' e-Banking facilities support most major High Street bank Internet banking services.
PC banking
Most of the major banks in the UK provide PC software that when installed on your PC enables you to dial (via a modem) directly to the bank's private and secure network to access your own bank account details.
Most of these applications allow you to process:
single or batched payment instructions
direct debit instructions
international payments
bank transfers as appropriate
They also allow you to download balance and statement information for reconciliation purposes.
