The large, established "brick and mortar" banks introduced Internet Banking services
in the mid 1990s. Because access to the Internet was limited, high-speed
Internet connection were rare and e-business applications were clunky, adoption of ebanking
didn't really didn't take off until the new millennium began. All the
large banks in Canada and the
United States provide web banking services.
People soon discovered that they
were able to pay bills, transfer funds and check transactions 24 hours a day from the comfort of their
homes. Many banks provided financial incentives to encourage clients to
adopt self-service banking channels over "at the teller" full service
banking. In addition to Web Banking, this included the use of ATM
(automated teller machines) and IVR (interactive voice recognition)
telephone banking
services.
The use of
tried-and-true brick and mortar banks provided a sense of
security, however, they did not pay a good return on deposits. Many banks
also charged their customers charges if a minimum deposit was not
maintained.
