The Services Offered By Barclays Internet Banking Information Technology Essay

In this report I seek to look at one of the big worldwide financial provider called Barclays and concentrate very much on its internet banking. Barclays has got 300 years of experience in banking (baclays.com 2010). Barclays bank offers internet banking and serves a large number of customers in the world. The report will also give an outline of the services offered by Barclay’s internet banking and a deep explanation will be given on how this internet banking is beneficial to the society.

There are several services offered by Barclays internet banking. The internet banking services offered by Barclays are not different from the services offered by other banks which are involved in internet banking. Some of the transactions which can be done through internet banking are as follows (lawyerment.com);

Furthermore, Barclays online banking allows the user to open his bank account, do savings and investments, pay loans and mortgages, pay insurance as well as to contact international banking. Barclays internet banking also allows students to have their students account, approve their loans, share trading and many more services.

Extend to which internet banking is beneficial to society

In order to give a judgment on the extent to which internet banking is beneficial to society, two things are to be considered. These are advantages and disadvantages of internet banking to society. The services offered by Barclay internet banking are advantageous to society and detrimental in another way. So in order for me to give a judgment on the extent to which this internet banking is beneficial to society , I will also use the advantages of internet banking as given at (Barclays.co.uk) as well as the general advantages and disadvantages of internet banking.

ADVANTAGES OF INTERNET BANKING

Convenient and easy

Barclays bank provides free online banking and the services are given any time needed. With internet banking, the users can pay their bills, transfer their money, and check their balances while they are home. Whenever something urgent arises for example in paying the bills, users will not need to go to the bank but they can do their transactions right from their homes whenever they have access to internet. For some other people who go to work away from their bank branches, it becomes easy for them to access their accounts everywhere they are. It is also possible to use your mobile phone to access your bank information.

Time efficient

When opening an account, a lot of time is taken in doing the paper work. But using internet banking, the necessary procedures are clearly provided for users. In the case of Barclays, the necessary information for users is provided on the necessary websites. This makes it easy for business people because they don’t waste most of their time standing on queue or finding where the bank is. Barclays provide information on how to get an online account.

Safety

Barclays provides safety for users of its internet banking services though many ways. These include making their regular checkup of their systems to make sure there are no problems, provision of security measures like automatic logoff, systems which can sense and protect the account from attack by internet hackers. The bank maximizes its risk management to make sure that every protective measure is done to ensure safety of the accounts. Furthermore enough information is given to people regarding how they should keep their login information- for example they should not send their login information to some people via some unnecessary and unprotected mails. Barclays takes its full responsibility in protecting the privacy of the users’ information. These include some warnings if the user does use the service unnecessarily.

International banking

With the globalization that is taking place in a fast growing world like this, people need everything to be fast. People now are contacting their business beyond their borders without any limitation. Internet banking allows users to access their banks accounts and do whatever transactions they want even though they are outside the country where their banks are. It is now easy to contact business from outside your country. In general, not all business has their braches all over the world but with internet banking it becomes possible to do everything from wherever you are.

Accessibility

With the fast growing world and technology, internet has become accessible to large parts of the world. Internet services are offered 24 hours every day in many parts of the world. Provided the availability of internet access, all users can log into their respective accounts.

Value

Internet banking is beneficial to people in the sense that the running costs are less. When using other banking ways, will need to pay a certain amount of money to go to a bank to transfer money, or to go where there is an Automated Machine to make a transfer. But using online banking all these can be performed while lying on your bed.

DISADVANTAGES OF INTERNET BANKING

Forgery

Many cases are reported about the forgery that takes place in online banking. With the advancing technology many people have devised some websites they can use to access other people’s user names and passwords. As a result if the banks do not have strong safety measures against this many people would lose their money as a result of hackers. However as I said reputable banks like Barclays have also devised safety measures against hackers. These include automatic log off, sites which detect hackers, protection of users’ privacy, teaching users how to protect their computers from hackers and so on.

Less trust

People in general do not put much trust in machine than they put on people. So the reason why there are only few people doing online banking, it’s because less trust is given to the way these machines operate. So many people will not want to take risks by doing online banking.

CONCLUSION

I have used Barclay bank as one of the major financial provider using internet banking. With the information that I obtained from the Barclays websites as well as other reputable websites in an effort to find out to what extend internet banking is beneficial to society. I have included several services offered by internet banking which included paying of bills, making of transfers and so on. Then in answering to what extend online banking is beneficial, I searched the advantages and disadvantages as shown above, some advantages included how easy it is to do all your transactions anytime , anywhere as covered in convenience . For disadvantages I also included the risk of forgery that can be done by other people to obtain other people’s login details and use them to steal their money. However after weighing the advantages and disadvantages I discovered that there are more benefits than disadvantages of internet banking to society.

In conclusion, internet banking is beneficial to the society to a greater extend.