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Banks with branches in Edinburgh
Institutions
- Bank of
England The "Old Lady" of Threadneedle Street. Responsible
for UK financial system, setting exchange rates, UK's foreign exchange
and gold reserves and the Government's stock register.
More UK-wide Online Banks
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indicates that the bank or building society
provides banking over the World Wide Web.
What are the advantages of WWW banking?
Web-based banking has many advantages over conventional banking.
You can access your account online from a computer anywhere in the
world, print off a statement and, if your account supports the facility,
make payments to other accounts. The competition among WWW banks
is hot so many are offering excellent rates of interest, although
be aware that this may be "for a limited period only".
Also, pay careful attention to charges by some online banks for
facilities that you would normally take for granted in real world
banking like charges for ATM withdrawls, cheques to third parties
and telephone banking.
But is it secure?
Security is obviously a big issue here, and you should check
to see what steps your chosen web bank has taken to ensure that
your account and personal details are secure. Make sure that your
bank is signed up to the Banking
Code, under which banks agree to deal fairly and reasonably
with their customers. You should always take steps to ensure that
noone gets your user name and password details.
What features can I expect?
The level of features vary from one bank to another. The typical
internet bank account will allow you to check your balance, view
and print out a statement, search for a past transaction, transfer
money between accounts, set up bill payments, standing orders and
direct debits.
Cons Solving a problem by email is more difficult than across
the counter face-to-face. Although you may think that you can chuck
out those paper statements now you've gone digital, many banks don't
archive bank statements going back beyond a few months. |
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