Online banking: What will it do?
Technology now in use is
very definitely capable of handling “online
banking”. Why are we just now getting
into banking by wire? Really it has
been in use for more than ten years, but
limited to using the telephone. The
Internet fad has led many people to own
computers with modems providing wire
communication capability. That
installed base means that banking by wire is
commercially viable, but this has happened
quite recently. Any online banking
requires that your computer be equipped with
a modem, whether or not you currently use it
to access “the web”.
To become a commercial
reality, programs had to be developed to run
with banking accuracy, and to mesh with
existing banking software. This has
taken time. To judge from questions in
the CompuServe QuickBooks Forum, very few
people have had problems using these
services. The reason may be that very
few people so far have tried to use
them. Should you decide to participate,
you may find the activity to be more of an
adventure than a smoothly polished operation.
Online payment
is implemented in QuickBooks as capability to generate a payment order in your computer. The order is sent by wire and put into effect by a receiving agency. If you have only online payment, the receiving agency is designated by the QuickBooks displays as Intuit Services Corporation (ISC.) In practice, Intuit has sold ISC to Checkfree, and that company now operates the service.
Online Banking
includes online payment. I set up online banking with one bank. This bank merely passes the payment orders to Checkfree, who appears to handle the payments the same as any other online payment. Online banking includes other features. You can retrieve reports of transactions received by the bank, and automatically merge them into the bank account in your QuickBooks company. Other features, such as access to credit card accounts, are at the option of the bank. (“Financial Institution” is technically correct, but cumbersome, so I shall call them all “banks”.)
Although direct electronic
payment is discussed, I have not been able to
actually make that happen. One bank
account is set up with online banking, and
online payment has been connected to
another. Each of these accounts is set
up for return of the actual checks to
me. Payment through either account are
made on the same form, called a
‘draft.” The draft looks like a
check, but with no signature. Where the
signature would be is the legend “No
signature required. This check has been
authorized by your depositor. For
Information, call 630-300-3020.” That
number connects to Checkfree Customer
Service. The name of the payor
(business) and the name of the bank are
printed onto the checks.
Unless a distinction is needed, the word “bank” includes Checkfree.
Fees
for online banking with online payment are set by the banks and seem to be about $9 to $30 per month. Some banks waive the fee for a limited time after enrollment. The fee may include a limited number of online payments, with charges for additional payments. ISC currently charges about $10. The banks which I contacted all said payments were handled by ISC or Checkfree.
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