Even those who first viewed banking on the internet with trepidation have become fans. The convenience can’t be beat, and concerns about security have been shown to have been overstated. Banks, and web developers, haven’t failed to notice and are working to bring new functionality to the technologically equipped public.

24-hour access is much of the appeal of online banking. Privacy is another. Even loans, mortgages, and other credit dealings – traditional face-to-face matters – can be managed via the internet.

With new applications for mobile phones, banks can offer even more services to their current customers, as well as attract new ones. It is now possible to deposit a paper check by simply taking a picture of it and sending it electronically. The ability to transfer money between accounts, even at different banks, and to send money directly to another person without using a third-party are other popular uses.

Gas stations and some merchants have introduced applications of their own which allow their customers to make purchases just by waving their phone in the direction of the register. The speed and convenience of this type of transaction for both consumer and retailer has made it wildly popular. You can expect to see many more such applications appear, especially those that are not restricted to a specific vendor. Imagine never having to carry a wallet again.

Banking on the internet was once considered by many to be too great a security risk. People today are more savvy about identifying scams and more trusting of their bank’s dedication to keeping their sensitive information secure. Regulations do exist to protect data, and all financial institutions are required to follow them. The advent of mobile banking may lead to some further enhancements to a system that already performs well. True digital signatures have never successfully been implemented for computer users, but smartphones have the capability to create a genuinely unique identifier that is more difficult to fake than even a handwritten signature. Also, when a phone is turned off, so is the app, so there is no way at all for a hacker to find a way in.

Digital information transfer is the future of banking, and it’s already here. While brick-and-mortar banks may never go away, they are becoming less necessary for basic transactions. As institutions take advantage of their customers’ dependence on technology, more options are opening up every day.

Furthermore, the smartphone has great potential for enabling the user to integrate all his or her financial data from multiple sources into a single, user-friendly application. Some of them already exist, and many more will be introduced in the next few years, as their developers finish testing them.