The Best Way to Set Up an Online Banking Account

First, you'll need a username and password for your bank's online banking and bill pay center. If you don't have them already, follow the directions on your bank's Web site to set up your username and password.

Then gather your regular bills, log in to your account and navigate to the online banking section, where you'll find a page that allows you to set up payees.

If your bank allows you to receive electronic bills, or e-bills, you can search the bank's list of companies that offer such bills. If you receive bills from any of these companies, you can select the option to cancel future paper bills and have all bills sent electronically to your online banking account.

Internet banking goes mainstream in US and UK

Online banking is now a mainstream access method for retail customers on both sides of the Atlantic, but this has not led to a decline in the use of branch-based services and has actually resulted in higher take-up of other channels such as ATMs, according to a study by analyst house Gartner.

A survey of over 2000 adults found that 33% of US customers - the equivalent of 71 million people - regularly use Web banking services.

7 tips to safer online banking

Always check the URL of your bank's web site. Fraudsters can lure you to enter your user ID and password at a fake web site that resembles your bank. If you see anything other than the bank's genuine URL, it has to be fake.

Never enter your user ID or password or such sensitive information without ascertaining that you are on the right web site. Always type the Web address of your bank into the browser address space. Never click on the link in the email.

Business: Banking on the Internet

The latest trends in finance are good news for trees everywhere.

Employers are depositing wages directly into workers' bank accounts, doing away with printed checks. Those workers are receiving their bank statements at their home computers rather than in their mailboxes. Even the dollar itself is a piece of paper that's falling out of favor — consumers increasingly use debit and credit cards in lieu of cash.