Hussam Al-Abed, a crime consultant and a leading trainer of employees in the banking industry in Middle East, opines that, "Electronic Banking (e-banking) is an umbrella term for the process by which a customer may perform banking transactions electronically without visiting a brick and mortar institution" (FINCEN, 2005). Admittedly, e-banking includes the synonyms such as personal computer banking, Internet banking, virtual banking, online banking, home banking, phone banking, etc. E-Banking uses the Internet as the `delivery channel' to conduct banking activities including deposits and withdrawal of cash, transfer of funds, payment of bills and premiums, checking of balances and purchasing of financial instruments of a wide variety. An Internet banking customer may access his or her accounts from `browser software' anywhere through world wide web. The introduction of e-banking across the globe has made the financial transactions convenient and customer-friendly. It has reduced transactional costs for the financial institutions and helped them to provide variety of services to their clients. E-Banking has not only reduced the time consumed in financial transactions, it has shrunk the geographical frontiers to make their business truly global. Finally, it has helped the banks and financial institutions to retain increasingly sophisticated customers, develop new customer base and capture greater share of banking business in a highly competitive environment.
The history of e-banking in India dates back to 1996 when ICICI became the first bank ever to introduce its online banking website. This was much before the RBI could formulate any guidelines for e-banking as such. It was a primary level informational website allowing its customers to access their account information, and undertake correspondence with the bank through e-mails. In 1999, Citi Bank, HDFC Bank and others adopted the use of new technology to reach wider market for their banking products. |
