e-Banking

The vast development in technology has helped many people, industries, businesses and a lot more around the world. This development has helped one particular industry, the banking industry. Many people use banks to save their money and to use it wisely for their own use. Since technology has radicalised the use of banks on the high streets have decreased. They have created e-banking to aid people with their day to day lives and in some cases made it more convenient for people to use it. Even though we dwell on the positives there are also the aspect of security involved.

Online banking will soon displace high street banks, due to the main reason that mostly all of the banks have an online website where you can literally do all the banking you do in a local high street bank. The main reason banks now operate high street banks is not to lose customers who are from an older generation, who believe it is more secure and safe to save their money in a bank and also for people who problems. In my opinion sooner or later online banking will boom and unfortunately the high street banks will shut down.

Sole Online Banks

There were mainly three banks that offered banking only through the internet or through a call centre. The only one of the three that still currently runs banking through the internet is Smile. Smile is a trading division of the Co-operative bank. It was established as the UK’s first fully internet bank in 1999. Smile was the first to offer full-service accounts, savings, ISA’s, investments and credit cards through the internet. Smile still operates solely as an internet bank.

Egg was another former online bank headquartered in Derby, now trading under as the Yorkshire Building Society. The Egg brand was launched in 1998 by the UK banking arm of prudential plc, Prudential Banking plc established in 1996. Egg specialises in savings and general insurance but no longer provides loans, credit card or mortgage products. The credit card business was bought by BarclayCard and the remaining savings and mortgage businesses were bought by the Yorkshire Building Society.

First-e another online bank based in Dublin was a European online bank which operated during the Dot-com bubble. It operated on a license from a French bank. It gained 50,000 customers before shutting down in October 2001 after the Dot-com bubble burst.


ATM’s

Automated Teller Machines, more commonly known in Britain as a ‘Hole in the Wall’ or ‘Cash Point’, is a computerized telecommunications device that provides clients with access to financial transactions without the need for a clerk or a banker. This means people can get their money outside without the need for other people. The machine works when a customer inserts a plastic credit/debit card which has a magnetic strip. Once entering your own ‘unique’ card you then have to provide a PIN number to ensure your security and to make sure no one else can take your money. Most ATM’s generally accept all cards; however some only accept certain bank cards or a certain card. Using ATM’s people can withdraw cash. You can use ATM’s in other countries to draw out cash. There are also some ATM’s which allow people to pay in money and cheques.

Services

Standing Orders/Direct Debit transfers are services offered by banks to make banking a whole lot easier. Standing Orders are statements which you can use to move money between your own account and an organisation - they pay exactly the amount you choose and not the amount you owe. You can continue paying via standing orders for as long as you want or till a set date. You can also cancel them anytime you want using the bank. Direct Debit is when an organisation can collect the money you owe them, but they let you know in advance, how much they will withdraw, when and how often. These services are handy for paying regular amounts or bills.


Online statements are free information about your account. It shows how much is available in your account, how much you can withdraw, when the last payment was put into your account and a lot more. You can view and print them when you like and if you are environmental friendly you don’t need to print it out, but you can still view your statements without any hassle or thinking.

Security

Online banks have to guarantee that their customers can enjoy banking online without any issues or hassle. One of the main areas they target is security. They have to ensure that the customer information they hold will not fall into the wrong hands. Banks spent a lot of money ensuring their site is safe to carry out an online transaction. They ensure this by having security questions, back up passwords and having key cards. Key cards have come into use widely to ensure customer safety. So when you want to log into your online account you have to turn your key card on and it will generate a series of random number which then generates a unique code which is different each time. Many banks also have security questions like your mother’s maiden name, pet’s name, your best friend’s name etc. These security methods ensure hackers or fraudsters to access your or other accounts. However even though they are in place there are occasions when these systems fail.

Advantages

1.          It is more convenient

2.          You don’t need to wait in queues – more time to shop

3.          It is environment friendly i.e. less paper is needed

4.          It is more accessible

5.          There is no rush to finish it quickly unlike at banks

Disadvantages

1.          Job losses and deskilled people

2.          Older generation find online banking hard to use

3.          More prone to identity theft, fraud and hack threats

4.          Systems can crash e.g. the NatWest system crash which lost the company millions and customers

I haven’t got an online account as of yet, but I wish to in the future. I do sometimes help my mum to find some tools on her account and she says how better it is to bank online rather than staying in queues waiting for half an hour also to transfer a small amount of money. I wish to use online banking in the future to manage my funds effectively for my university education.

e-Government

E-Government is an online service which delivers government and information services through the internet, TV or using any technology. E-Government is used by millions of people because it is easy and convenient. It is mainly used to give out public sector information to the people. The information available is key and necessary for the people of the country. Different sites offer different information such as changes within the law, rights and responsibilities and more. There are other sites where you can pay your taxes, apply for vehicle licenses, check crime rates, make/support petitions and lots more.

DirectGov.co.uk/Gov.uk

A website that provides information and guidance that is used by many people. You can use this website to do lots of services that you were able to do using a computer. These include

 ·  Getting a tax disc
 ·  Legal information for buying, importing or scrapping a  vehicle

 ·  Finding a job

 ·  School admissions

 ·  Education advices

These are just some of the many services this website offers. Personally I have used this website only once to research about congestion charging and therefore am not an expert at whether it is good. But it serves its purpose of providing information to people.
Here is a link to the above website:
https://www.gov.uk/

NHS Direct

This site gives you a range of health information ranging from health diseases to the types of food you should eat. It explains different health conditions and symptoms to allow people to find it earlier rather than leaving it late to go to the GP about it. It also provides help with finding your nearest GP or Dental Clinic. It also provides food choices and what types of food you should eat regularly. It also offers up to date information on flu’s, viruses and many more and how to tackle it. This site is excellent as it has everything you need to know about when it comes to your health.

Here is a link to the above website:
http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/

Income Tax

This site explains everything about what an income tax is, how it is used and how it affects you. It has half assessments to ensure you get the right information and you are doing everything correctly. It has many links enabling users to move around more efficiently and allow payments online.

Here is a link to the income tax website:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/

Vehicle Licensing

This site provides you with information on vehicle licensing and everything associated to within it. This site can also be used to apply for your driving license more easily and efficiently rather than going down to the post office and waiting in a massive queue to do it. The site is good and easy to use and is very informative, so it provides you with all the information you need to know about vehicle licensing.

Here is a link to the above website:

http://www.dft.gov.uk/dvla/

I have not used many of the above websites apart from the first one but all the websites seem easy to use and provides valid and updated information. I wish to use it in the future to apply for jobs, licenses and to solve medical issues or to protect myself from a flu or virus.

e-Education

Online Education is a key aspect of learning for many people around the world. It is particularly useful for children and teenagers to find information about their current topic or topics related to the subject they are currently studying. Online Education is key to the success of many individuals to enhance their further education. It provides essential help they require to achieve their best and further enhances their chance of a better future. Online Education is a source of information to use if searched at the right place. It can uncover new knowledge or add to existing knowledge. There are many websites out there that allow students to get information and even at times to submit work and get them marked via experts at a specific subject. There are millions of websites out there to help with an individual’s educational needs.

 

One of the most widely used website is BBC Bitesize, Sam Learning & MyMaths. These are some of the widely used websites by kids who are stepping into education. A child would have used one of theses websites throughout their educational life. These websites provide information and help to a student who might have not got something at school or does not understand a topic. Teachers also tend to refer these websites to students while at the same time use some them during their lesson. There are also activities that students can complete to aid their learning from school. BBC Biteseize is a good example as you can do questions and get them checked towards the end where you can get your result and get answers that you got wrong and there will be right answers next to it to aid your revision of the topic. MyMaths have automated questions that for each topic to ensure that an individual can do the question rather than copy the answers of someone else. Sam Learning is a competitive website where students can compete with other students in their school by doing activities which you get points for, which will enhance you to move up the virtual website leader board of your school. It is developed to engage students in a competitive level to further enhance their learning. All of these websites above engage students to review their learning while at the same time aid them by providing information. I have used MyMaths and BBC Bitesize regularly to aid my learning since joining secondary school. It has online lessons aimed to help students with their work that may have been difficult or challenging to do. I used Sam Learning to prepare for my GCSE Exams. It help me to enhance my learning further by having different activities while at the same time a target to aim for in this case the virtual school leader board. Overall all the websites still allow me to enhance my learning by providing aid and help for challenging and tough times.

 

Here are links of the above websites:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/
http://www.mymaths.co.uk/
https://www.samlearning.com/
 

Another really famous website that can be used not just by students is Wikipedia. Wikipedia has thousands of articles aimed to help education. It is greatly used for research purposes and provides great value to an individual almost 90% of the time. However the website is not always reliable and trustworthy as almost anyone in the world can write an article on anything they want without thinking about what they are writing. Apart from these it is very useful for planning and coursework purposes. I use wikipedia to research about certain events in the past, about authors, books and almost everything that I don’t know. It helps to find the information that might help me with my coursework or education.

Here is a link to the Wikipedia website:
http://www.wikipedia.org/

 

YouTube is often related with videos, but it can at time aid with educational purposes as well. YouTube have educational videos which helps students to understand a certain aspect of the topic they are doing. For instance there might a video on how the human body perform its day to day function, as it is not in a book it is explained using a video which some students find more interesting to learn from rather than just copying words and words from the book. I have not personally used YouTube for educational purposes as of yet but I intend to in the future to further enhance my knowledge.

 

Exam Board websites are another key website as it offers past papers for students who are preparing to take exams and gives them a taste of what questions they can find. They are also an essential to revision as students can find questions they are losing marks on and revise them questions instead of just revising stuff they know very well. The way it works is that the students can pick a year from the collection of years and papers available view or even do them to enhance their revision and exam practise. It also gives you exam techniques such as on how to answer a 1 mark question compared to a 5 mark question.  I have used many exam board websites to practise my exam techniques and to aid in my revision, throughout my exam periods.

Here are links to the above exam websites:
http://www.edexcel.com/Pages/Home.aspx
http://web.aqa.org.uk/
http://www.ocr.org.uk/
 

Forums are another excellent way of communicating and asking for help. Most of the time only student’s posts on these but there are occasions when a student posts something and an adult comes and posts on your question. It helps students to ask for help or ask for advice on a certain subject or topic you are planning to do. It really helps as you know that they have experienced what you are experiencing and are able to provide guidance what to do next. Most of the time these answers are really helpful but there are times when students just random junk which is not helpful for you at all. Sometimes an elder/ teacher can also help you by replying to your post and therefore this is useful as it further enhances your education. I wouldn’t say it is best to use forums compared to other sites but there are there if a student wants to use it.

 

Although all the above websites are useful and is an advantage to a student, there are also many disadvantages. One of the main disadvantages is Plagiarism. Plagiarism is taking someone else’s work and passing off as it is your own work. Plagiarism is a major issue that exam boards have to tackle with every year. Other people have spent lots of time preparing articles for educational purposes yet some people just copy and paste this as their own work. A lot of these are children who are not bothered to do work themselves but just want to hand in work to chow that they have done it. Wikipedia is one of the major website which students use for plagiarism.

 

Another issue with online education is distraction. Internet is a major distraction while planning to revise. There is lots of stuff to do over the Internet instead of just sitting and learning for hours. From personal experience one of the major distractions is social networking i.e. Facebook, Twitter. Lots of students do their work online while having logged into Facebook or Twitter. This can be a distraction as you might have a conversation with someone while doing your work and this can at time cause silly errors. Another distraction is online games which people can use when they get bored during their revision and then get engaged into instead of doing their work.