Technology today is seeking to make life easier and more comfortable for the world today but at what cost? Internet banking is one of major upgrade in the world of finance today as it would enable buying and payment of debt very easy and free with less stress. Someone can handle over #150,000 Naira online transaction daily without needing token. But looking at this impressive improvement critically, I would say it causes people to engage in more spending than savings. For example, recharging ones phone and subscribing to Internet data is now very easy through online banking, before to bring out my raw cash to buy airtime to subscribe takes me time to make up my mind but recently with internet banking, I see myself making that expense twice in a month. What is your opinion on this?
Not necessarily. If you actually need to load your phone and data plan, then you'll have to take out some money. If you're strictly adhering to a budget, I don't see why having access to a convenient payment method will make you go overboard and spend twice the usual load. Internet banking does not give you extra money to spend, it only makes payment convenient for you so it shouldn't encourage you to spend more or pay more.
I think internet banking makes people check transactions less and as such they can miss any suspicious transactions, and also lose track of how much they are actually spending. In that way, some people can spend more without realizing, but overall it does allow you to check real time activity rather than waiting for the bank to provide an up to date statement.
Yeah, internet banking can cause an upward shift on our expenses curve which is a result of using the internet to perform impulse purchases at a particular point in time. I do not see the reason someone who is not mindful of how he/she spends should dare try to start using internet banking to do transactions for as we know that human wants are unlimited, while our resources, that is what plays out when you use internet banking. I think if someone can be shrewd with spending and ensure there is discipline when it comes to expenses through internet banking, then the person is on the way to maximizing the use of the internet to do bank transactions.
We use internet banking more for the payment of bills. It is very convenient than the usual way of paying the bills. For example, the electric bill, we used to go to the office and get in line to pay. But now, it's a breeze because we have already enrolled in the online system of the bank and also of the companies that we pay. For purchases, we normally use the credit card but I cannot say that it encourages spending because we are careful when it comes to finances.
I support that internet banking encourages more expenses. For example at my local bank, you can choose to use equitel where an online enabled sim card is generated for you. This means you don't ever need to walk to the bank to get your money because you can do everything with your phone. But every thing you will do with that equitel sim card is at a small fee. When you add up together this fee yearly is only when you realize how much you could have saved if you did not opt to use it.
It still depends on the person owning the credits. Of course it's hard to buckle if you see all this good deals all over internet with everyone of them promising a good catch. Technology brings all sort of things good and bad, in the end your decision is still what counts.
