Internet banking has become the norm for around 15 million people in Britain, as our increasingly time-stretched society uses every means to cram another chore into the day. For private banks, access to the personal relationship manager still remains key, but an increasing interest in internet banking from customers has prompted some of the biggest names to offer online services to clients, so they can access their accounts no matter where they are in the world. What you are able to do on your private bank’s website will vary, and in many cases you will be using a system that will vary somewhat from a high street bank. In reality, the added value a private bank can offer is the personal relationship with a member of staff, who will deal with your needs and aspirations individually. Even so, you can still usually access your accounts online, transfer money and even have secure access messaging systems to give instructions to your personal account manager. Stephen Dewsnip, director of Rothschild who is based in Guernsey, said customers have been “very positive” about its online offering. He added: “A lot of the so-called online banking packages are designed to replace the personal touch you have with a private banker. But we use it as an additional tool to augment that relationship. I would never see us reducing that.” Rothschild offers a variety of services online through its ArrowOnline brand. Private banking clients can check on account balances, view transactions, look at their custody and portfolio holdings, and they can order reports. Mr Dewsnip added: “The other thing we have is a secure messaging service which enables our clients to message their private bankers to give dealing instructions. It is the nearest they can come to online processing.” This facility is proving invaluable for clients dotted around the world in different time zones, and any instructions received should be dealt with the same working day, said Mr Dewsnip. It was the international client base that prompted Rothschilds to implement internet banking a few years ago, said Mr Dewsnip, a story that you hear from many of the banks, whether private or high street. Having access to online banking no matter where you are or what time it is can make life a lot simpler. Of course, security is an issue, with card-not-present internet fraud jumping from £45 million in 2003 to £154.5 million last year. For online banking alone, total losses from fraud scams such as “phishing” and Trojans – where a virus is uploaded via email into your computer to access banking details – was £33.5 million last year – up 44 per cent from 2005, according to banking industry body Apacs. Although this is relatively small in comparison with plastic card fraud losses – at £428 million – it is still a significant figure. Phishing is the practice of fraudsters sending emails at random purporting to be from a bank, and inviting customers to update their security details over the internet. A spokesman for Apacs said: “These emails usually claim it is necessary to ‘update’ or ‘verify’ your password and they urge you to click on a link from the email which will take you to a bogus website. Any information entered here will be captured by the criminals and used for their own fraudulent purposes.” Phishing has grown out of the difficulty for criminals to crack the security of the banks’ own websites. Most, including Coutts and Rothschilds, use a 128-bit encryption system, which is the highest commercially available, before you get into the realms of military encryption. Coutts Online Banking allows clients to access details of current accounts, credit and charge cards and money market accounts, said Joanna Thorne, a spokesman for the bank. You can also transfer money between accounts, send money abroad in most currencies, pay bills and make regular one-off payments, make same-day transfers to any account in the UK, and manage standing order or direct debit instructions. Coutts also provides a secure messaging facility, said Ms Thorne, which gives clients access to the 24-hour helpdesk. She added: “Coutts understands that security is paramount and we offer the highest commercially available level of security - 128-bit encryption. We also have a passcode calculator that generates a random passcode for every time you wish to access the service. “Clients can also order currency, which can either be collected from any of the 24 Coutts offices in the UK, or delivered to their home address.” NatWest International is claiming to be the first to launch a “secure global online banking system”, called Ibanking which uses PIN and password security access to prevent fraud. A further development has been made with Ibanking Plus – where a smartcard and card reader can be used to add another layer of security to online transactions. While this is a relatively new development, it is likely to be the shape of things to come. An Apacs spokesman said: “This solution helps to ensure that the person conducting business online or over the phone is the genuine customer and will make these types of transactions even safer. Consumers will start to see the roll-out of these devices during 2007 for use in online banking.” Of course, you should not just rely on the bank – private or otherwise – to safeguard your online security, there are a number of things you can do yourself. For example, if you are using a payment or banking website and you are asked to provide secret details to access a service, make sure first of all that the site is genuine. You can see whether it is secure by checking in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen. If there is a closed padlock there, then the site is secure. Also, only use your online banking details on a computer that you have sole access to if possible. There are a number of other tips on how to bank safely online at www.banksafeonline.org.uk. You can also get details of some of the most common scams, how to spot scams, and how to protect yourself from falling victim to them, said Apacs. A spokesman added: “There are also links on the site that enable consumers to report scams to the Apacs team of online banking experts, and a link that allows customers to get help and advice from Apacs about any industry-wide online banking queries.”