Drugs Essay, Research Paper

The Internet?s popularity has risen greatly in the last few years and it?s popularity

has forced most industries to go online. The Internet?s millions of users have attracted

commercal banks. People are increasingly using the Internet for financial services in

addtion to using the Internet for research, education,

The last few years have seen an explosive proliferation of the Internet, with millions of users

around the world logging on for a growing number of purposes. People shop, research, take

classes and file their taxes on the ‘net, and, increasingly, are using online banking services to

manage their personal finances. Personal computers, telephonic banking and increasingly

sophisticated automated teller machines are becoming commonplace as consumers abandon

daily or weekly trips to their local bank branches in favor of more convenient electronic financial

service. Although consumers appreciate the speed and convenience of electronic banking, there

is growing concern over the security of Internet transmissions. H.R. 2937, for example, provides

for the recognition of digital authentication in place of signatures, a move that has supporters

praising the technological savvy of the banking industry, but leaves some critics deeply concerned

at the possibility of misuse by criminal hackers.

While ATMs are a more “secure” form of electronic banking, consumers are paying in other ways.

Fifty-four percent of the nation’s banks add surcharges for the convenience of using the ATMs of

their competitor’s banks, and many independent ATMs operated by non-depository institutions are

charging fees as well. Critics, led by Sen. Alfonse D’Amato, D-N.Y., are calling for a ban of these

surcharges, saying that banks are profiting by “gouging” customers with outrageous fees. Others

argue, however, that banks make little or no profit off the surcharges, and that independent ATM

operators — who place their ATMs in traditionally unprofitable yet highly convenient locations like

airports and grocery stores — need to charge nominal fees just to break even.

Electronic banking is here to stay, and is growing along with the Internet as a whole. This section

looks at the impact it will have on consumers and the banking industry, the conflicting opinions

about the merits of eliminating the paper trail, and the regulations and legislation proposed to

manage banking’s trip on the information superhighway.