Why do banks push online banking?

I agree with the other comments....it reduces the amount of humans they must have to perform transactions, such as checking your balance, seeing if a check cleared, etc.

However, what has me concerned is if online banking remain a "fee-free" option? Remember back in the 70s and 80s, banks were pushing ATMs as a way to reduce the number of human tellers. Many cities even had localized "networks" (Cash Station in Chicago, NYCE in New York) so that your card would work at ANY ATM. Then banks started getting greedy, and realized they could charge fees to use an ATM.

Will history repeat itself?

Along with the reasons already mentioned by others, online banking is considered a "sticky product" for the bank. If the client starts using online banking to automatically pay bills the odds are that the client will not close their accounts and go with a competitor because it becomes too much of a hassle to change banks. Especially if they have direct deposits as well.

As a banker, I honestly can't understand why people wouldn't want to take advantage of Online Banking. Online banking allows you to watch your money on a daily basis if you want to. By keeping close tabs on your funds, you'll always be aware of what's happening in your bank account.

It's also helpful to watch how much interest you're gathering on investments and savings or what service charges you have incurred. You can pay your bills right online in the matter of minutes! and most importantly, you don't have to travel to the branch or wait in line.

Probably because it cuts back on phone calls and visits to the bank. A lot of company lean towards taking care of everything online now. I don't mind sometime but there are times I'd rather not utilize the web for my transaction.

Banks actually push online banking because it is just another service that they offer. It is proven that the more services you have with that bank the less likely you are to leave and move to another financial institution. It is call cross-selling. Figure this... if you bank at two places... at one you have just a checking acct. The other you have a checking, svgs, loan, credit card and online banking... which one do you think you will leave first?

Less overhead for basic banking and the bank also gets paid if you use your debit card as a credit card instead of writing a check.

Banks want to go paperless. More secure and it is faster. The IRS even wants to go paperless. Do you realize how many paper checks are processed every day even on weekends. Billions. Talk to someone at your bank.

It cuts down on the paper usage. plus when you bank online you dont have to wait in lines, of couse with the exception of cash withdraws and deposits.

Saves paper for everybody, can change the dynamics of ID theft.

Less Overhead (employees), less office buildings and less paper work (you pay for your own printer cartridge and paper)....imagine how much money they save!