Electronic banking has many names like e banking, virtual banking, online banking, or internet banking. It is simply the use of electronic and telecommunications network for delivering various banking products and services. Through e-banking, a customer can access his account and conduct many transactions using his computer or mobile phone. In this article, we will look at the importance and types of e-banking services.

Types of e banking

Banks offer various types of services through electronic banking platforms. These are of three types:

Level 1 – This is the basic level of service that banks offer through their websites. Through this service, the bank offers information about its products and services to customers. Further, some banks may receive and reply to queries through e-mail too.

Level 2 – In this level, banks allow their customers to submit instructions or applications for different services, check their account balance, etc. However, banks do not permit their customers to do any fund-based transactions on their acounts.

Level 3 – In the third level, banks allow their customers to operate their accounts for funds transfer, bill payments, and purchase and redeem securities, etc.

Therefore, banking websites are of two types:

1. Informational Websites – These websites offer general information about the bank and its products and services to customers.
2. Transactional Websites – These websites allow customers to conduct transactions on the bank’s website. Further, these transactions can range from a simple retail account balance inquiry to a large business-to-business funds transfer. The following table lists some common retail and wholesale e-banking services offered by banks and financial institutions:

Common E-Banking Services

Importance of e-banking

We will look at the importance of electronic banking for banks, individual customers, and businesses separately.

Banks

1. Lesser transaction costs – electronic transactions are the cheapest modes of transaction
2. A reduced margin for human error – since the information is relayed electronically, there is no room for human error
3. Lesser paperwork – digital records reduce paperwork and make the process easier to handle. Also, it is environment-friendly.
4. Reduced fixed costs – A lesser need for branches which translates into a lower fixed cost.
5. More loyal customers – since e-banking services are customer-friendly, banks experience higher loyalty from its customers.

Customers

1. Convenience – a customer can access his account and transact from anywhere 24x7x365.
2. Lower cost per transaction – since the customer does not have to visit the branch for every transaction, it saves him both time and money.
3. No geographical barriers – In traditional banking systems, geographical distances could hamper certain banking transactions. However, with e-banking, geographical barriers are reduced.

Businesses

1. Account reviews – Business owners and designated staff members can access the accounts quickly using an online banking interface. This allows them to review the account activity and also ensure the smooth functioning of the account.
2. Better productivity – Electronic banking improves productivity. It allows the automation of regular monthly payments and a host of other features to enhance the productivity of the business.
3. Lower costs – Usually, costs in banking relationships are based on the resources utilized. If a certain business requires more assistance with wire transfers, deposits, etc., then the bank charges it higher fees. With online banking, these expenses are minimized.
4. Lesser errors – Electronic banking helps reduce errors in regular banking transactions. Bad handwriting, mistaken information, etc. can cause errors which can prove costly. Also, easy review of the account activity enhances the accuracy of financial transactions.
5. Reduced fraud – Electronic banking provides a digital footprint for all employees who have the right to modify banking activities. Therefore, the business has better visibility into its transactions making it difficult for any fraudsters to play mischief.

E-waste or electronic waste is created when an electronic product is discarded after the end of its useful life. The rapid expansion of technology and the consumption driven society results in the creation of a very large amount of e-waste in every minute.

The European WEEE Directive classifies waste in ten categories: Large household appliances (including cooling and freezing appliances), Small household appliances, IT equipment (including monitors), Consumer electronics (including TVs), Lamps and Luminaires, Toys, Tools, Medical devices, Monitoring and control instruments and Automatic dispensers. These include used electronics which are destined for reuse, resale, salvage, recycling, or disposal as well as re-usables (working and repairable electronics) and secondary raw materials (copper, steel, plastic, etc.). The term "waste" is reserved for residue or material which is dumped by the buyer rather than recycled, including residue from reuse and recycling operations, because loads of surplus electronics are frequently commingled (good, recyclable, and non-recyclable). Several public policy advocates apply the term "e-waste" and "e-scrap" broadly to all surplus electronics. Cathode ray tubes (CRTs) are considered one of the hardest types to recycle.

eHealth is the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) for health. The eHealth unit works with partners at the global, regional and country level to promote and strengthen the use of ICT in health development, from applications in the field to global governance. The unit is based in the Department of Service Delivery and Safety in the Cluster of Health Systems and Innovation.

The 10 e's in "e-health"

1. Efficiency - one of the promises of e-health is to increase efficiency in health care, thereby decreasing costs. One possible way of decreasing costs would be by avoiding duplicative or unnecessary diagnostic or therapeutic interventions, through enhanced communication possibilities between health care establishments, and through patient involvement.

2. Enhancing quality of care - increasing efficiency involves not only reducing costs, but at the same time improving quality. E-health may enhance the quality of health care for example by allowing comparisons between different providers, involving consumers as additional power for quality assurance, and directing patient streams to the best quality providers.

3. Evidence based - e-health interventions should be evidence-based in a sense that their effectiveness and efficiency should not be assumed but proven by rigorous scientific evaluation. Much work still has to be done in this area.

4. Empowerment of consumers and patients - by making the knowledge bases of medicine and personal electronic records accessible to consumers over the Internet, e-health opens new avenues for patient-centered medicine, and enables evidence-based patient choice.

5. Encouragement of a new relationship between the patient and health professional, towards a true partnership, where decisions are made in a shared manner.

6. Education of physicians through online sources (continuing medical education) and consumers (health education, tailored preventive information for consumers)

7. Enabling information exchange and communication in a standardized way between health care establishments.

8. Extending the scope of health care beyond its conventional boundaries. This is meant in both a geographical sense as well as in a conceptual sense. e-health enables consumers to easily obtain health services online from global providers. These services can range from simple advice to more complex interventions or products such a pharmaceuticals.

9. Ethics - e-health involves new forms of patient-physician interaction and poses new challenges and threats to ethical issues such as online professional practice, informed consent, privacy and equity issues.

10. Equity - to make health care more equitable is one of the promises of e-health, but at the same time there is a considerable threat that e-health may deepen the gap between the "haves" and "have-nots". People, who do not have the money, skills, and access to computers and networks, cannot use computers effectively. As a result, these patient populations (which would actually benefit the most from health information) are those who are the least likely to benefit from advances in information technology, unless political measures ensure equitable access for all. The digital divide currently runs between rural vs. urban populations, rich vs. poor, young vs. old, male vs. female people, and between neglected/rare vs. common diseases.

In addition to these 10 essential e's, e-health should also be

• easy-to-use,

• entertaining (no-one will use something that is boring!) and

• exciting