Banks as well as other types of financial institutions provide telephone banking. It allows customers to perform different kinds of financial transactions on the phone without necessarily going to the bank physically or going to the ATM. For this kind of banking, customers enjoy longer opening times and there are actually institutions that make the service available 24 hours every day. There are restrictions regarding the accounts accessed through this method and amount limits that one can transact.
There are various transactions that customers can access using the telephone banking. They include the obtaining of the balance in the account as well as a short list of transactions that are carried out lately. Customers can get electronic bill payments as well as transfer of funds between one customer to the other. Documents and cash are never used in telephone banking and if this is needed, one has to go to the branch or use the ATM.
How does telephone banking help?
From the point of view of the bank, the telephone banking usually reduces the costs involved in handling various transactions by reducing customer visits to the bank branch for withdrawals or deposit transactions that are non-cash.
How to access the telephone banking facility?
To be able to get into the telephone banking of a certain banking facility, you have to do a registration with the institution for that service. You may get a customer number and passwords to verify your identity whenever you want to use the service.
The customer calls a special phone number that the bank sets up and then goes through the authentication process before they can carry out any transactions. The service can be carried out using a live representative or through a system that is automated and one with the capacity to recognize voices.
Most of the institutions offer telephone numbers that the customers can call any day of the week, but at specified times to carry out their transactions with great ease regardless of where they are. The kind of access you get depends on whether you are a regular customer or a premium one.
In most cases, the phone numbers that are provided can be used to register for the service and access it. Most of the telephone banking providers offer customer support via email and contact can be made this way.
Telephone banking has made it easy for people to access the banking services without necessarily leaving their homes. This has brought a reprieve for people who are not in a position to go to the bank every now and then due to physical constraints. Yet others have to deal with busy schedules that cannot be altered. The most interesting thing is the fact that the setting up of this kind of banking takes only a few minutes. To make sure the application goes through, you should ensure that you are eligible for this kind of banking. You should be of legal age, offer identity proof and you should pass a credit check.