Traditional Banking Versus Online Banking Information Technology Essay

Traditional Banking Versus Online Banking Information Technology Essay Internet banking is a fact of life for many individuals today with a busy lifestyle. Some individuals will have a brick and mortar bank that offers Internet banking in addition to going to the brick and mortar location. Other banks exist only on the Internet that do not have a physical location. Benefits Internet bankings major benefit to account holders is convenience. It allows an account holder to monitor usage of his account and perform basic transactions online for his banking account. Considerations If an individual opens an account at an online-only bank such as ING Direct, access is limited to their account. If the bank account owner can not find a location with Internet access, she will be unable to perform transactions on her banking account. Disadvantages When using an Internet banking account, the account owner may have no face to face interaction with a bank employee if the bank does not have a brick and mortar location. This can make resolving disputes more difficult as the account holder will have to make a phone call and possibly wait on hold, or be forced to send an email. Bonuses There are some Internet banking companies such as ING Direct that will allow a customer to receive a monetary bonus for opening an account with them. The bonus varies based on the promotion the Internet banking company is running at the time. Warning  · Conducting your banking over the Internet can be you at a significant risk of scams and fraud. Make sure when using your internet banking account you are accessing it through a secured network, and never provide your account password to anyone. Online banking versus brick and  mortar Posted on April 9, 2008. Filed under: Banking,Investing and Saving | Online banking is something that no one could have predicted. Now you are able to access your accounts at any time, make payments and see your statements from home without going to the local banking branch. Online-only banks have also sprung up with no actual branches, just a virtual account that promises higher savings rates and a slew of conveniences. For the average person, it would be perfectly acceptable to have both an online banking account and a brick and mortar bank. Online banks generally have the best rates as they strive to cut costs by hiring a limited amount of workers (no tellers needed) and avoiding the costs of buildings, atms etc. The downside is a limited access to money and the inability to go to the bank and talk to a person if you need to. Most online banks will allow you to pay bills online, however, they do not offer easy withdrawals like the thousands of offline brick and mortar banks. Brick and mortar banks are best for people who demand customer service. From the availability of many banking options, fee-free ATMs open 24/7 and the candy at the corner of the banking desk; brick and mortars have it all. They also have many costs that cut into savings rates, and make their lines of credit and loans more expensive. Brick and mortars offer a high level of comfort to customers, ensuring them that their money is right around the corner when they need it, rather than just a digital number on a computer screen. For long term savings, an online bank is the winner hands down. Savings rates at online banks are much higher and the fees are much lower. An online bank is perfect for an emergency fund, or other savings that you do not need on a day to day basis. A brick and mortar savings account will never become obsolete, it is far too convenient, even though the rates are traditionally much lower. Keep just enough in a brick and mortar account to utilize it conveniently, and keep the substantial savings at an online bank to earn more in interest. For most people, two accounts is now the necessity. Traditional Banking Vs Online  Banking Internet banking works in a similar manner to traditional banking, the major difference being the way one is making payments, accessing his account and personal details, and reconciling statements. Rather than visiting the local branch of his bank, the customer uses his computer to complete transactions. Internet and traditional banking have their pros and cons to consider. The choice of online vs. brick-and-mortar banking is often based on ones lifestyle and priorities. As a major advantage of internet banking, the customer can accomplish multiple tasks in the comfort of his home. Efficiency is what makes online banking attractive to customers: they can pay bills, move money between different accounts, check multiple accounts, and much more. Banking is fast and saves customers valuable time. Transactions are completed in seconds and one can print out the receipts for his personal records. The customer may access his account at any given part of the day, even during weekends and holidays. Moreover, the online account may be accessed from any place around the world, provided that internet connection is available. Online bank accounts make banking expedient, convenient, and inexpensive. Many banks charge fewer fees for the online banking services they offer. Furthermore, banks have higher interest rates on savings accounts and certificates of deposit, and offer more financial services and products. Customers dont need to buy envelopes and stamps, run to the post office at the last minute, and risk being late on their payments. Monthly bank statements and bills can be accessed electronically. Finally, online banking employs sophisticated tools that help manage ones money and accounts with ease. Despite increased security measures and the availability of anti-virus and anti-spyware programs, identity theft is still a concern. Other threats associated with online banking include phishing and hacking of online accounts. Time is among the precious commodities, especially for multi-taskers. On the other hand, some people prefer to visit their local bank and interact with the teller in person. Customers can turn to the banks special account representative or even to the bank manager. Clients are physically present when cash is handed over to them and when they place valuable items in their safety deposit boxes. When customers hold their money in banks, they expect to have them available when required. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation offers coverage of up to $100.000 if banks cannot cover their clients accounts. Most banks have increased the level of security by installing more surveillance cameras and hiring a larger number of security guards. With traditional banking, customers are better protected against identity theft. However, security is still a concern with traditional banking. While criminals cannot hold a gun to ones personal computer, they can rob a bank the traditional way. Inconvenient locations, fixed schedules, and more limited financial services are some of the disadvantages associated with traditional banking. In contrast to internet banking, customers opting for traditional banking services need to draw money before using it. The FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) pays up to $100,000 of coverage, in case that a bank cannot cover its accounts (both online and traditional). However, protection from identity theft is an aspect of banking that traditional banks take better care of. Disclaimer: This article is provided for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for professional and/or financial advice. The information found in this article is provided AS IS, and all warranties, express or implied, are disclaimed by the author. Top 5 Reasons to Use Online  Banking In recent years online banking has become increasingly popular, and many consumers have benefited from being able to conduct all of their banking transactions online without having to resort to queuing in the local bank or spending time trying to get through automated switchboard in order to speak to someone on the phone. Online banking allows you to run your day to day finances, and manage your bank account, with ease and convenience, and with this method of banking you are always in control. With online banking you get to enjoy convenience, ease, speed, and increased control, which is why so many people now decide to conduct their banking transactions online rather than at a branch. The main reasons many people opt to use online banking are: 1. The ultimate in convenience: When you use online banking you can conduct your transactions from the comfort and privacy of your own home, so you wont have to worry about going out to your local branch, spending time queuing up, and trying to fit your banking commitments into your busy day, which can be particularly difficult for those that work full time. 2. No time constraints: With regular banking you are restricted in terms of when you can contact or call in to the bank in order to conduct transactions, and this can prove difficult for those with busy lifestyles and full time jobs. However, when you opt for online banking you can conduct transactions at any time of the day or night, which means that you can effectively manage your account around the clock. 3. Do everything you need to online: You will find that you are able to conduct pretty much any banking transaction that you can perform by phone or visit to your branch by going online, other than withdrawing and depositing cash. This means that you can effectively control your finances from the privacy of your own home. 4. Increased security: Banks now use very secure software to ensure the safety and security of customers, making it safer than ever to bank online. Just remember never to link to your bank account from an email link, as this could be a false link, and do not save your banking passwords and security details on a shared computer that could give others access. 5. 24 hour access to your account: With online banking you can access your account 24 hours a day, conducting transactions such as making bill payments, checking your balance and statements, setting up or cancelling direct debits and standing orders, and more. Gone are the days when you could only gain access to you bank between the hours of 9.30am and 3.30pm. How brick Mortar Banking Model will become a thing of past- Robin Trehan The reason is that maintaining bank locations is extremely expensive and hurts the bottom line. Each physical branch generates a laundry list of expenses, including rent, insurance, real estate taxes, utilities and employees. ; Attachment FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRLog (Press Release) Sep 01, 2009 How brick    Mortar Banking Model will become a thing of past- Robin Trehan A penny saved is a penny earned. That is why the banking industry needs to continue to shift to an online model for business banking. There is no longer any need for a bank to have several brick and mortar locations in every city. The reason is that maintaining bank locations is extremely expensive and hurts the bottom line. Each physical branch generates a laundry list of expenses, including rent, insurance, real estate taxes, utilities and employees. If the branch is located in a major metropolitan area such as New York, Chicago or Paris, operating it is even more costly. It makes much more sense for the bank to provide only ATMs in metropolitan area and locate its main center of operations in a suburb. Customers can easily and quickly handle their banking business online, at an ATM or even over a mobile phone at any time of the day or night. The technology keeps getting more sophisticated even checks can now be deposited using a picture taken by a cell phone. Even if they are out of the country, customers who bank online can access their accounts at any time with ease. The savings realized by eliminating unnecessary branch locations can be passed on to the banks customers in the form of a higher interest rate. However, there can be some challenges when it comes to moving business banking out of the building and into cyberspace. Like many new ideas and ways of doing business, it will take some time for people to get used to. Banks need to make sure that all their business customers understand how online banking works and why it is a safe option. It can be helpful to point out that online banking is actually in many ways more secure than the traditional model. For example, customers can be quickly notified via email or text if there is unusual account activity or if an account is close to being overdrawn. They can then take appropriate action (a balance transfer, for instance) immediately rather than having to wait to visit a branch. Online banking is truly an idea whose time has come. The internet has come a long way since Tim Berners Lee discovered it under two decades ago. There have been remarkable progress to create value added services from the internet, among them online banking. The capacity to use internet to deliver online banking services is yet to attract due attention from scholars on the impact of online banking on the efficient delivery of services by the bank (Harnando, Nietoa, 2006). The most obvious contribution online banking has brought to the banking industry is the reduction of overheads that would have otherwise been incurred particularly in relation to the staff and advertising and others services like information technology as no special software is needed (wikipedia 2007[online]). The reductions in costs in those areas have undoubtedly added positively to a bank bottom-line. The emerging consensus on the future role of online banking is that it can be used to add value to overall banking services as appertaining service delivery, but onlin e banking has failed to marshal potent force to dislodge physical banks branches. The reason why online banking is yet to dislodge the brick and mortar traditional branches is because risk management on online banking applications have not walked with tandem with other advances in information technology. The imperfections of technology sometimes mean that online banking may not be a perfect substitution for a bank branch, and some functions (such as depositing cash) might still require the need to have physical branches for some foreseeable future.   There are three major ways in which financial institutions exploit the internet (Ramakhrishnan, 2001), or basically online banking means these three things. They can do it for information purposes whereby the bank can disseminate information about its products over the internet. Secondly, online banking can be about communication with a certain identifiable set of people (in this case a customer) about matters of interest to them such as account information. Thirdly and at the highest level, online banking can be transactional, whereby a customer may give the bank a certain mandate to operate the account in a certain way, like to make payments to a third party. This would happen without the customer stepping into the banks hall. Numerous risks abound in online banking, and it is impossible to discuss here them all (Comptroller, 1999). But the main ones are, Credit risk Interest rate risks Foreign exchange risks, Transaction risks, Compliance risks, Reputation risks. Risks arise from events, foreseen and unforeseen, that may have an unfavourable effect on the banks earnings or capital. The risks are not particularly peculiar to online banking, but they become more potentially threatening in online banking. Bank management for online banking system may be ill advised to leave these risks to the IT department to handle. Many of them require the management careful considered exercise of discretion. This may involve the establishment of effective management controls over the online banking risks, for instance accountability and appropriate policy directives for containment of these risks. New online banking projects that have a risk factor should be reviewed by the management and they should ensure that adequate technical expertise is available at all times. For securities risk management strategy, the banks should have in place adequate identification (authentication) of online banking customers before a transaction is carried out. Measures should also be in place to ensure that such customer cannot deny he transacted over the internet. Measures should also be in place before embarking on an online banking project to protect customers privacy and Know Your Customer rules for online banking customers should be stricter than usual (Basel, 2001).

Family Business Essay

Family business are businesses that are created from their founding fathers of that era, if may evolve from small businesses into big enterprises. Family business is playing a very important part in the economy of Malaysia; the reason is that more than half of the Gross Domestic Product of Malaysia is from the family businesses that are conducted in Malaysia. For example The Genting group and The Berjaya group are two of the most famous family businesses that are conducted in Malaysia. The following are the issues and challenges that are faced by family businesses in Malaysia. The first challenge and issue that affects family businesses in Malaysia is succession planning which is choosing the next successor for the business after the current successor retires or passed away. Choosing a successor is one of the biggest challenges and is often faced by family businesses in Malaysia. Choosing a successor is hard because there are many factors that need to be considered before delegating him or her to be the successor of the family business. The first factor is of course the capability of the potential successor, to see whether he or she is up to standard andable to handle the responsibility that is about to be passed onto to see whether they qualify for the position. The second factor is that the potential successor must have certain amount of knowledge about the business and must know every part of operation of the business in details. The potential successor must also have very good management skills and have a good relationship with everyone involved in the business in order to have smoother process when sharing business ideas. The second challenge and issue that affects the family businesses in Malaysia is family disputes which is the harmony between family members and also within the business. The reason why it is one of the challenges and issues is because some of the family members or people involved in the business are always jealous of each other, or they are angry because of the decisions made which they are unfair, which will then results in political issues happening in the business which can greatly affect the outcome of the business, and sometimes it may be serious until it can tear down the whole business. So that is why it is very hard to keep the family and business at harmony all the time. However, if they are able to do so, it will help improve the communications between family members and also people involved in the business so that they can share out their feelings and the conflicts more openly so that the conflict can be solved in a way that will benefit the family and the business. The third challenge and issue that affects the family businesses in Malaysia is professionalism which is capability of keeping the family business up and running for a long term. This is a very hard challenge for all the family businesses out there in Malaysia because it has many factors to look at in order to keep the family business in one piece, because family businesses often faced with conflicts between one another sometimes because of the informal business structure, like there are no roles given formally which then allows everyone can step into each other territory in the business structure which is also known as invading other’s personal workspace. The other reason is because of the non-systematic work which is caused by bad operation control which can greatly impact the operation of the family business. However, if management is in good control and the organizational structure is complete and the objective and goals is the same and shared by everyone, the efficiency of the family business will sure improve a lot. Staff training can also improve the professionalism of the family business. The fourth challenge and issue that affects the family businesses in Malaysia is leadership which is basically the compass for the direction of the family business. It is very hard for family business to have good leadership because it involves leading, involving, and also motivating the people in the family business so that they share the same goal. So, if the leader of the family business is strong, then the chance of the business to succeed will surely be very high. The first thing is that the good leader must have the stamina and the passion to lead. Besides that, the leader must have a wide knowledge of the economy and also the industry itself so that he or she can direct a most beneficial way for the family business to approach and also giving a sense of common purpose. Lastly, the leader must have power to control the people in the family business and tell them what is the plan and what they need to do. The last challenge and issue that affects the family businesses in Malaysi a is fair compensation which also includes fair treatment to the people involved in the family business. The reason why this is a common issue in family business is because that the family members always tend to treat their own family member better and they also make bias decision most of the time. The most common problem is the payment and the salary of the people in family business. People who are the family member often get better pay which then the other people will feel cheated and mistreated at the same time. Then they will feel alienated by the family members of the family business, which will then greatly affect the earning capability of the business. Although there are quite some challenges and issues faced by family business in Malaysia, but if those family businesses can overcome the challenges and issues that are stated above, then their family business will surely be stable and run for a long time. Reference List: 1. http://www.ukm.my/ajag/vol2ch2.pdf 2. http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/862-family-business-challenges.html 3. http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2012/02/02/asias-family-businesses-face-new-challenges/ 4. http://familybusiness.about.com/od/managementandoperations/a/commonthreats.htm 5. http://www.isb.edu/FamilyBusiness/File/challengesfacedbyindian.pdf

Poetry from Other Cultures Essay

Poets who were born in Britain don’t usually write about slavery or how important water is to them. Many poets who are not originally into a traditional English culture use English in many different ways. Night of the scorpion, Limbo and Sacrifice all seem like they are poems that have been written to represent beliefs or a way of life. They have all got rhythms and beats and some even use nursery rhymes or chants as a basis for the poem. Language is extremely important to some people especially poets. Sometimes you can see by looking at a poem that it is not written in Standard English. At the beginning of Night of The Scorpion, a child is talking about how it remembers the night when its mother was stung by a scorpion. The child mentions â€Å"Ten hours of steady rain has driven him to crawl beneath a sack of rice†. Here, the child is describing the scorpion and the reason for its arrival. The child points out that the scorpion â€Å"parted with its poison† which literally means that the scorpion has stung someone. Throughout the poem, the scorpion is described as an evil being; â€Å"The flask of diabolic tail in the dark room† shows this. When the mother was stung, the villagers are described as â€Å"swarming flies†. This may mean they were running to help the mother or running away from the scorpion. The villagers chant the name of god to the mother, chanting the name of god in some cultures, is said to bring luck or hope to the person they are chanting for. In the poem it also states that the villagers used torches and lanterns to try and find the scorpion. As the villagers moved around with the torches and lanterns, the scorpion left shadows on the â€Å"mud baked walls†. The villagers could not find the scorpion so they started to make a â€Å"clicking† noise to try and draw the scorpion towards them. In one part of the poem, it mentions that the scorpion was controlling the poison that was inside the child’s mother. â€Å"With every movement the scorpion made, his poison moved around the mothers blood†. The villagers seem to believe that the scorpion controls the poison that is inside the mother so they think that if they capture the scorpion, the poison inside the mother will also stop moving. They state that they want to stop the scorpion on line 18, â€Å"May he sit still†. After line 18, a series of sentences are started with the word â€Å"may†. In Standard English, this word usually introduces a polite request. The villagers all sat round whilst the mother laid there. It is described that there is a look of understanding on all of the people’s faces, which shows that they are supporting the mother, hoping she will be fine. In some cultures it is believed that if you catch the scorpion that has poisoned someone, the victim will recover. This may be why the villagers were so keen to capture the creature. The poet then describes how everyone is trying to help the child’s mother recover. â€Å"My father, sceptic, rationalist, trying every curse and blessing, powder, mixture, herb and hybrid. He even poured a little paraffin wax upon the bitten toe and put a match to it†. â€Å"I watched the flame feeding on my mother† this is one of the most effective quotes in this poem as it’s dramatic and metaphorical. Again, the poet describes how people are trying to help the child’s mother by writing; â€Å"I watched a holy man perform his rites to tame the poison with an incantation†. The p poet gives the effect that the poison has been inside the mother for a long time by saying; â€Å"After twenty hours, it lost its sting† The last three lines of the poem have had a large amount of thought go into them, as it’s unusual to normally end a poem like this. The poem Limbo, tells the story of slavery in a rhyming, rhythmic dance. It is ambiguous and complex. There are two main narratives running in parallel; the actions of the dance and the history of a people – which is being enacted. Going down under the limbo stick is likened to the slaves going down into the hold of the ship, which carries them into slavery. In Roman Catholic tradition, Limbo is a place to which the souls of people go, if they are not good enough for heaven but not bad enough for hell, between this is Limbo. It has come to mean an unpleasant place or a state of mind or body from which it is difficult to escape. The story of slavery told in the poem is very easy to follow, yet full of detail and action. The poem has a very strong beat, suggesting the dance it describes. The rest of the poem tells a story enacted in a dance. These lines are greatly rhythmic and almost every syllable is stressed, until the very last line, where the rhythm is broken, suggesting the finish of the dance and the end of the narrative. This poem is suited to a dramatic performance – there is the dancing under the limbo stick and the acting out the voyage into slavery. The poem can be chanted or sung with a rhythmic beat to give the best effect. The poem refers to a â€Å"drummer† which may be suitable. The poem is laid out on the page in a very peculiar fashion; this is related to the poem being chant like. Parts of the poem are echoed or at least rhyming in a repetitive way to suggest that this may not be any song or dance, but one of an â€Å"African† like culture. From the start of the poem, it seems pessimistic, but as you read on towards the end of the poem, it gradually stats to change into an optimistic look onto what will happen. â€Å"The music is saving me† could mean that the songs of their cultures were what gave them hope or the fact that the drummer was beating a rhythmic beat was what got them to carry on. The first line of sacrifice is an unusual line to start with because describing a goat having a knife dragged across its neck isn’t the sort of image you would want to convey for the opening sentence. The person’s point of view throughout the poem seemed to switch between two characters, a young boy and a goat being sacrificed. â€Å"Two spadefuls of dirt will cover me up forever† & â€Å"I can feel its point on my throat†. Many cultures bless their house or have some kind of ceremony once the house is built. Also, there are still some cultures today that sacrifice animals to their â€Å"gods†. â€Å"We stand in a tight circle around the animal to be sacrificed† this short sentence is a great example of this. It seems that the child in question seems to dislike the idea of animals being sacrificed. â€Å"The heat and the smell of the blood make me dizzy†. Again, there is a whole paragraph describing just how the animal in question is sacrificed. The writer of the poem has made a strange choice by putting both children and the theme of sacrificing together, as usually a poet would not normally do this. â€Å"The children are fascinated by the tableau†. Here, a drama convention is used. A tableau is a still image that can be used at the beginning, during or at the end of a piece of drama. Again, the idea of ceremonies are used; â€Å"A white bearded man chants something holy†. â€Å"The cameras click.† This short sentence sounds wrong when put into context with the theme of the poem. The idea of people taking pictures of an animal that has just been sacrificed is disgusting. The ending of the poem is unusual because it seems that it is from the boy’s point of view because it describes the house as an unnecessary killing. â€Å"We are not laying the foundations of a house but another dachau.† A Dachau is a Nazi concentration camp where thousands of Jews were exterminated.

The Moment of Truth Free Essay Example, 1500 words

Another reasons contributing to the debt crisis is that the federal debt remains unsustainable by itself. The level of unsustainable debt ends up driving up on the interest rates of all borrowers, be it businesses and individuals, thus curtailing on economic growth by crowding out on the private investment. As it becomes more expensive for the entrepreneurs and the businesses into raising capital, participate in innovation and creation of jobs, the rising dept could end up reducing on the per-capita GDP. It thus implies that the share of nations’ economy by each American will increase by as much as 15% come 2035. Such issues of rising debt will also end up hamstringing the government, thus depriving it on the resources required for responding to the expected future crises and depriving on the possibility of investing in other priorities. Deficit spending is commonly in use at responding on the short-term financial ‘emergency’ needs, but as the national debt keeps on growing, the federal government will encounter difficulty in borrowing funds through affordable interest rate, thus preventing on the effectiveness of responding to emergencies. We will write a custom essay sample on The Moment of Truth or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now Part 2: Overview of the proposed solutions offered by the authors The main agenda of the proposed solutions is to bring the budget back to the primary balance (balance that include interest costs) by 2015, and be able to meaningfully improve on the long-run fiscal outlook. The recommendations offered by the authors are able to accomplish on these goals, while keeping on mind a number of key principles. Some of the principles include making America better for tomorrow, avoiding any disruption on the fragile economic recovery, protecting on the truly disadvantaged, cutting on spending that are hard to afford, among other principles. In this regard, the authors of this report were able to propose the six-part plan that would help in putting the nation back to the fiscal health, promoting economic growth, and protecting on the vulnerability of America. When taken as a whole, expectations are that the plan will; Be able to achieve nearly a $4 trillion deficit reduction by 2020, which will be more than any other effort in the entire history of the natio n. Be able to reduce on the deficit to 2.3% of the GDP by 2015, which will exceed on the President’s goal of achieving a primary balance of about 3% of the GDP. Be able to sharply reduce on the tax rates, and then abolish the AMT, and achieving cut on the backdoor spending in the tax code.