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Preeti Mehra

Though Net banking facilitates easy financial transactions, it's yet to catch on with Indian Net users, especially women.

After all, does not Internet banking have every possible advantage? It gets you your bank balance at the quick click of the mouse any time, helps you pay bills without running up fuel expenses, eliminates standing in queues or having your signature verified...

Yet Internet banking seems to be making only marginal inroads among Internet users. And when looked at from the gender point of view, women, for reasons of their own, seem to find it a big `no no'.

Even middle-level working women in metros who can boast of certain achievementsincluding the fact that they are computer savvy, have access to the technology and a decent bank balance to boot, seem to avoid the Internet for their banking needs. Though research evidence of such a phenomenon is hard to come by, those interviewed had well-defined reasons for preferring the brick and mortar office of the bank or walking into the bank's ATM service instead of trusting the Internet for a financial transaction.

What is it about online banking that women don't like or trust? After all, they are the ones who are usually subjected to the leg work involved in paying domestic bills, have to walk the tight rope between running a home and competing at work, burn the midnight oil balancing household expenses... so easy financial transactions should be welcomed by them.

But in reality this is not so. Apart from other reasons, topmost on their mind seems to be the security aspect.

Each one of the women we spoke to expressed fears of hackers and cyber crime. "I don't feel comfortable with Internet banking — it's as if I'm exposing my financial details to all and sundry," says Radhika Reddy, a lecturer with a private professional college. At one point she did consider using the Net for an important transaction, but her relatives warned her against it and instead she decided to make the effort to drive to the nearest ATM. "The ATM too gives you the timing advantage, besides it's good for an emergency when it's cash that you need," she says.

"Despite banks assuring us of confidentiality, I don't have faith in Internet banking and cyber fraud is only too well-known," says Sangita Singh, an advertising executive. For her the biggest hurdle to Internet banking is the "unusually long" password. "It's just too many numbers to remember — first your massive account number, then an equally lengthy password, then the fear that the balance is being read by someone, that it may be misused in the future — all this is enough to put you off. I'd rather visit the bank or go to the ATM," she says.

But then some banks like Standard Chartered give Net bankers like her the option of having a nickname as the initial login and a password that is only six digits long.

Anyway, as both these women are over 35 years old, one could argue that it is their age that makes them more conservative, and the younger and more technologically savvy women would take to the online banking world as duck does to water.

But this too does not hold true — even young students are unwilling to experiment with Internet banking. Says 19-year-old Somya Saikumar, a law student in Delhi, "I've heard of too many fraud cases and that's exactly why there is so much emphasis on cyber laws. My friends and I do not consider Internet banking as an option. It's just not safe," she says. She too would rather visit the bank or use the ATM route to not only debit cash, but also find out the balance. "You get your statement at the ATM in a jiffy, why would I need to find out my balance over the Internet," she asks.

Though research on women and Internet banking in India has not been done yet, reports from other countries show that in some developed countries women are increasingly opting for Net banking. A report by NetValue claims that people in the UK use online banking sites more than those surveyed in seven other European countries. Around 5.2 million UK Web surfers visited banking sites during a given month and women made up more than half of new Internet banking users.

That, however, may be a rather optimistic assessment as another general study on online banking by TCA Consulting revealed that men are twice as likely to bank online than women, with 15 per cent keeping track of their finances via the Internet compared to just 7 per cent of women. The study also found that younger people were more likely to use the Internet to manage their money, with 22 per cent in the 25-34 age group banking online, compared with 13 per cent of those between 35 and 44.

From the other side of the globe — Australia and New Zealand — come estimates that two-third of all users do banking online. India too has an impressive population of Internet users — at latest tally a whopping five million. But that does not mean that Internet banking is catching on. However, those who are savvy at transacting over the Net swear by both the convenience and safety aspects. "If you get used to it, you wouldn't go for any other method of banking," says an information technology specialist. Women would do well to heed this advice... as they bear the double burden of running a home and working outside.

Picture by Shaju John

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