Banking

Internet Banking –
Do More With Your Money

Learn about Internet Banking
For brief overviews, select one of the Tell Me About slide shows above, or choose one of the links below:

* Internet Banking details the benefits of banking online.
* Security explains how your account information is kept safe.
* Bill Pay describes how to easily and safely pay bills online.

Want more details on how to use Internet Banking? Choose a question from the How Do I menu, or view one of the Sample Screens on the right.

Do More With Your Money
Enroll Now for Free U.S. Bank Internet Banking

Do More With Your Time
Access account information from wherever you are with U.S. Bank Mobile Banking. Get details

Save time and money with Free Internet Bill Pay!

Internet Bill Pay lets you quickly and securely pay all of your bills online, in one convenient place. Our Risk-Free Guarantee ensures every bill is paid correctly and on time. Once you are logged in to Internet Banking, select the Bill Pay link to get started.

U.S. Bank is participating in the FDIC's Transaction Account Guarantee Program.
Learn More.

Financial institutions provide service as intermediaries of the capital and debt markets. They are responsible for transferring funds from investors to companies, in need of those funds. The presence of financial institutions facilitate the flow of money through the economy. To do so, savings are pooled to mitigate the risk brought to provide funds for loans. Such is the primary means for depository institutions to develop revenue. Should the become inverse, firms in this arena will offer additional fee-generating services including securities underwriting, and prime brokerage.

In financial economics, a financial institution acts as an agent that provides financial services for its clients or members. Financial institutions generally fall under financial regulation from a government authority. Common types of financial institutions include banks, building societies, credit unions, stock brokerages, asset management firms, and similar businesses.

Savings accounts are accounts maintained by retail financial institutions that pay interest but can not be used directly as money (by, for example, writing a check). These accounts let customers set aside a portion of their liquid assets while earning a monetary return.

Accounting for bank accounts
Suburban branch bank

Bank statements are accounting records produced by banks under the various accounting standards of the world. Under GAAP and IFRES there are two kinds of accounts: debit and credit. Credit accounts are Revenue, Equity and Liabilities. Debit Accounts are Assets and Expenses. This means you credit credit accounts to increase their balances and you debit debit accounts to increase their balances.

Traditional banking activities

Banks act as payment agents by conducting checking or current accounts for customers, paying cheques drawn by customers on the bank, and collecting cheques deposited to customers' current accounts. Banks also enable customer payments via other payment methods such as telegraphic transfer, EFTPOS, and ATM.

Banks borrow money by accepting funds deposited on current account, accepting term deposits and by issuing debt securities such as banknotes and bonds. Banks lend money by making advances to customers on current account, by making installment loans, and by investing in marketable debt securities and other forms of money lending.

Banks provide almost all payment services, and a bank account is considered indispensable by most businesses, individuals and governments. Non-banks that provide payment services such as remittance companies are not normally considered an adequate substitute for having a bank account.

Banks borrow most funds from households and non-financial businesses, and lend most funds to households and non-financial businesses, but non-bank lenders provide a significant and in many cases adequate substitute for bank loans, and money market funds, cash management trusts and other non-bank financial institutions in many cases provide an adequate substitute to banks for lending savings to.

Banks have influenced economies and politics for centuries. Historically, the primary purpose of a bank was to provide loans to trading companies. Banks provided funds to allow businesses to purchase inventory, and collected those funds back with interest when the goods were sold. For centuries, the banking industry only dealt with businesses, not consumers. Banking services have expanded to include services directed at individuals, and risk in these much smaller transactions are pooled.

A banker or bank is a financial institution whose primary activity is to act as a payment agent for customers and to borrow and lend money.

The first modern bank was founded in Italy in Genoa in 1406, its name was Banco di San Giorgio (Bank of St. George).

Many other financial activities were added over time. For example banks are important players in financial markets and offer financial services such as investment funds. In some countries such as Germany, banks are the primary owners of industrial corporations while in other countries such as the United States banks are prohibited from owning non-financial companies. In Japan, banks are usually the nexus of cross share holding entity known as zaibatsu. In France "Bancassurance" is highly present, as most banks offer insurance services (and now real estate services) to their clients.

JOBAIR
The World Bank's current focus is on the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), golends primarily to "middle-income countries" at interest rates which reflect a small mark-up over its own (AAA-rated) borrowings from capital markets; while the IDA provides low or no interest loans and grants to low income countries with little or no access to international credit markets. The IBRD is a market based non-profit organization, using its high credit rating to make up for the relatively low interest rate on its loans, while the IDA is funded primarily by periodic "replenishments" (grants) voted to the institution by its more affluent member countries.

The World Bank is one of the two Bretton Woods Institutions which were created in 1944 to rebuild a war-torn Europe after World War II. Later, largely due to the contributions of the Marshall Plan, the World Bank was forced to find a new area in which to focus its efforts. Subsequently, it began attempting to rebuild the infrastructure of Europe's former colonies. Since then it has made a variety of changes regarding its focus and goals. From 1968-1981 it focused largely on poverty alleviation. In the 1980s and 1990s its main focus was both debt management and structural adjustment.

The World Bank is a bank that provides financial and technical assistance to developing countries for development programs (e.g. bridges, roads, schools, etc.) with the stated goal of reducing poverty.
The World Bank differs from the World Bank Group, in that the World Bank comprises only two institutions:
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) International Development Association (IDA) Whereas the latter incorporates these two in addition to three more:
International Finance Corporation (IFC) Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)