With the 24-hour access to your accounts that an ATM computer terminal delivers, many financial institution customers seldom enter the 8:30AM-to-3:00 PM world of the typical bricks-and-mortar branch offices. With the advent of online account access, you now have the option of doing virtually all of your financial transactions without leaving home 24 hours a day. Online account access effectively transforms your personal computer into a teller, enabling you to complete nearly all the transactions you used to take care of during a trip to the branch or ATM, except for cash withdrawals. What's more is that online access gives you more detailed financial information allowing you to better track where your money is going, as well as plan where you want it to go in the future.

Six reasons why you should be accessing your account online

. ATMs revolutionized the way we access our financial information. With the exception of being able to cash back from your PC, online account access offers all of the advantages of an ATM and more:

• Know as much about your accounts as the financial institution does. Unlike the account balance you receive at an ATM, the one you access via your computer will show the outstanding checks that have yet to clear the financial institution.
• Double-check ATM cash withdrawals, debit card purchases, and other transactions that often go un-entered in your checkbook record. (In a recent year, Americans used their ATM cards over seven billion times, averaging more than six hundred million times a month. That's plenty of opportunity for overlooking some important checkbook entries!)
• Transfer funds from one online account to another.
• Make a payment on any loan or credit card account at your financial institution.
• Download transaction information and automatically insert it into personal finance software.
• Closely monitor all your accounts so you can avoid or minimize service charges and overdraft fees, as well as maximize the interest income you can earn.

The specific choices available to you in an online account relationship will depend on what features your financial institution offers in its online version. Your options may range from the most basic capabilities, such as being able to check account balances and transfer funds from one online account to another, to the more complex that allow you to track investments and apply for loans online.

If your financial institution doesn't yet offer an online account service, chances are very good it will in the near future. By 2003, 60 percent of adults in the United States are expected to have access to online services. That's a powerful incentive for financial institutions to develop and enhance their online technology, because online account access is even less expensive for financial institutions than serving customers with ATMs.

For now, the way you access your account online and the options available to you will depend on what your financial institution offers. You can access online account features using three different methods:

• The Web This involves using a standard Web browser (such as Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer) to access account information via your financial institution's World Wide Web site on the Internet.
• Personal Finance Manager Software These programs, which enable you to track and manage all your financial information, also have the capability to exchange information with your financial institution online, if your financial institution supports such a connection. Among the most popular packages are Quicken, Microsoft Money, and Managing Your Money.
• Your Financial Institution's Software These programs are provided by your financial institution and run on your computer. Referred to as "financial institution-branded" or "proprietary" software, these software packages enable you to connect to your financial institution (usually via a private data network, not over the Internet) for online account access. The features they contain can vary, from enabling you to perform such basic tasks as reviewing your account information, to more complicated tasks, such as tracking your investments.

What can you expect to pay for this online convenience? The usage fees will vary, depending on which of the above methods you choose. Also, if online bill payment is a priority for you, be aware that most financial institutions consider that a separate service, and so include a separate charge for it. For example, a Web-based online financial institution may charge no fee for the most basic features such as checking a balance and transferring funds, but charge $4 a month for bill payment.

Even with all the convenience online account access provides, there are still two important financial tasks you cannot perform online. You will still need that human teller or ATM to dispense actual greenbacks, and to accept checks for deposit. But with the majority of your financial life fully automated, those visits may begin to seem as quaint as a buggy ride in the park.

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