Online current accounts have taken off in a big fashion in recent years. The convenience of 24/7 banking has won many converts.
No queues, no restrictive hours, and no cranky tellers - internet banking is the only way to go. From online savings accounts to online current accounts, everything you need from a bank is online.
Depending on what sort of service you're after, there are banks that offer higher interest rates on your savings, charge less for overdraft facilities and allow you to monitor your account and conduct much of your business 24 hours a day, 365 days a year all from the comfort of your PC.
And don't let misguided loyalty stop you from taking advantage. These days your friendly bank manager no longer exists. It's cashpoint machines, robotic voices on the end of your touch-tone telephone and computerised statements. Why should you be loyal? This move towards technological efficiency is certainly benefiting them, so why not take advantage of it yourself?
The benefits of being able to track and manage your finances online are very real. And by making it easy for you to move money between accounts, you should be able to make it work harder for you by keeping more in higher-earning accounts. After all, you can now use the Internet to find the best rates on savings, cards and loans etc. any time you like.
It's usually very simple these days to open an account online. You just log on, answer the various questions, provide a password and print off the completed form for signing. If you can't print it off, they'll do it for you and fire it off to you in the post. (A real signature is a legal requirement at the moment so you will have to put pen to paper in the early stages).
You'll need to make a list of the services that you want and then ask the banks that interest you for the information you want. Some will provide the answers online (a Good Thing) while others require you to phone them up (a Black Mark). You may want to draft a standard e-mail asking specific questions and send it to all of them so you can find out who is really on their toes.
Just think. No queues during your lunch hour, no rushing to get to the bank before it closes and certainly no worries about dealing with pressing transactions at ten o'clock at night if you feel like it.
Remember, banks count on their customers not doing even the least little bit of homework before opening an account. And then, after they've snapped you up faster than the closing jaws of the hungriest crocodile, they count on you being too lazy to try somewhere else.
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