Earlier the economy of all the countries was cash driven, meaning that the transaction was carried out solely by using cash as a medium. But this arrangement has been changing lately as, the mode of transaction has been changing. The economies of the countries in the current scenario has been using data which is a converted form of currency and coins. With the advancement of technology, the mode of transaction has also developed into a more sophisticated system. The method of e banking as been introduced by various banks which has introduced a new way of carrying out the bank related work. Earlier the time we had to dedicate in order to get our work done in the bank has reduced to the minimal because of the introduction of this very new e banking.

E banking is something that has expanded the ambit of connectivity as well as the ambit of efficiency. The introduction of e banking has completely changed the process of client banking. All the features that the banks used to provide has now made available to the customers on the online platform of the respective banks. Earlier the functions that required us to be present at the bank physically in order to avail those are now easily available for us on the online platform. This has changed the mindset of the customers regarding the functioning of the banks,

The e-banking has made it very simple for the people to get their work done. The introduction of the e bank was not only a very important thing on the basis of functionality but also for keeping up the global trend, E banking has helped the banks to attract more customers and has not only helped in the establishment of the bank-customer relationship but also in maintaining long term relationship with the said customers. E-banking has also boosted the bank in generating more revenue and has helped in attracting foreign investment.

Despite of the fact that the introduction of electronic banking by the banks has attracted a lot of new customers and has motivated a lot of customers to avail the services the banking system provides, yet a lot of people fear in availing the services because of the lack of knowledge regarding the respective sector and the developments that has been brought. Hence the following sections will provide the said knowledge.

What Is E-Banking ?

The arrangement between the banking institution and its customers that basically allows the customers to conduct the encrypted transactions via internet is called as e-banking. E-banking is the short form of the term electronic banking. It has various other names too like virtual banking or web banking. It includes the utilization of telecommunication and electronic networks for the purpose of conveying and conducting different financial services and products.

E-banking makes the work of the client very easy as it allows the client to access the services that the bank provides at its branch on their cell phones and other electronic devices. The e-banking service is associated with the centralized database which is web enabled and is controlled and looked after by the bank that is providing that very service. Electronic banking has been present in the society from quite some time in the form of automatic teller machine (ATM) and because of the recent development, the services has been transformed to the internet hence any user with the computer and a browser can get connected to the banking sites in order to perform any of the functions provided by the respective bank.

Evolution Of E-Banking

Earlier the use of technology was restricted only to keeping the records of the books of the bank. Then in the year of 1970s and 1980s, the technology started developing as the online real time system and the vastly improved telecommunication got introduced. And this development led to the revolution of the banking field. The year of 1990 witnessed the emergence of the distributed computing technologies and the relational data base management system.

As the banking field got associated with the distributed, an individual could configure the dedicated machine called the front end machines for the customer service and risk control while communication in the batch mode without hampering the response time on the front end machine.

With the passage of time and the increment of competition in the banking sector, the banking institutions had to come up with some other ideas to get ahead of their competitions. Hence they had to reinvent and improve their product and services in order to make them more beneficial and cost effective. And in this process the introduction of technology in the banking sector played a very important role as the banks could come up with the alternative banking practice at a lower cost.

In 1994, RBI suggested using the electronic fund transfer (EFT), introducing electronic clearing services and extending the magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) beyond the metropolitan cities and branches.

The ICICI bank was the first one to introduce the facility of online banking services in its branches. This was followed by the HDFC bank, Induslnd bank and Citibank which then started provided this very facility in the year 1999.

Services Under E-Banking

As the banking sector started developing with the introduction of technology, several new functions were introduced by the banks in order to make full use of the technologies as well as for making the work easier. For achieving the said goal, the banking sector introduced certain electronic service for the benefit of the customers and some of those features are mentioned below:

• Mobile Banking:
  This function was introduced by the banks in order to make the work of bill payments, transactions, for checking the account balance and for other financial exchanges through just a mobile phone. This was a revolutionary move in the banking sector as it allowed the customers to get their works done without going to the branch.
   
• Electronic Clearing System (ECS):
  This service was provided for helping the customer in getting their bills paid in time and so that they don't have to stress over the payment of the bills. It was a creative service which allowed the amount as a bill which is to be paid to be automatically get deducted from the savings account of the same individual.
   
• Telephone Banking:
  It is another form of assistance which the bank provided to the individuals. In this service, the customer was allowed to carry out the monetary exchange via telephone only and that too without having the need to visit the branch.
   
• Smart Cards:
  Smart cards were introduced so that the customers could easily carry out the monetary transaction and in addition to that, it could act as an assortment of identification of the user. The transaction made with the smart cards are scrambled or encrypted in order to shield the exchange of the data from one party to another.
   
• Internet Banking:
  Internet banking is also called as web-based banking which allows the user to get their records and information with the help and means of a web browser. It allows the user to get all the standard exchange like money transaction, bill payment, etc. done without having to visit the bank branch.
   
• Electronic Fund Transfers (ETFs):
  Electronic fund transfer (ETF) is a service in which the money can be transferred from the account of one person into the account of another person having an account in the same bank or in some other bank using the personal computer-based framework without the need of the bank employee being there.

These are some of the services that are provided under the e-service function of the banks. These services provide benefits to people belonging to different sectors. Benefits are not only provided to the customers but the introduction of these features has proved to be very beneficial to the banks as well.

Benefits Of The E-Banking

The introduction of e-banking has played different roles in the lives of different individuals as well in the functioning of the different banking institutions. The benefits that are provided are as follow:

Benefits To The Customer

• Lower cost per exchange: the introduction of this function has proved to be very much beneficial to the clients as it saves their money as well as time by allowing them to get their work done on their phone and computer without them visiting the branch.
   
• No topographical hindrance: when the conventional method of banking was the only way to get the work done, the geological distance used to hamper certain financial exchanges. Nonetheless, with the introduction of the e-banking, the barriers the customers used to feel got removed as the customers got the facility of getting the same work done from a distance using the e-services provided by the bank.
   
• Convenience: e-banking made it easy for the customers to avail their banking history and records of their account from any place and at any time. the customer could get their work done without having to wait in long queues.

Benefits To The Banks

• Less desk work: technological development has made it very much easy for the banking institutions to keep the records and because of this, the time that the employees had to spend on the system has reduced to a great extent. Certain shortcuts and history is recorded which makes it easy for the employees as well as for the customers.
   
• Increased Client reliability: since the client's work has become easy and the banks has started various services in order to make it more convenient, the banks have experienced increased reliability that their clients has expressed towards them.
   
• Less expensive: electronic exchange methods are very less expensive as compared to the conventional method.
   
• Reduced chances of human errors: As the data is entered and handled electronically, the chances of error has reduced to a very great extent. And the process of correcting the mistake has also become very easy as compared to the conventional method.
   
• Less branches required: with the advancement of the technology, the requirement of the banks to open more branches in order to attract more customers has reduced.

Benefits To The Businesses

• Less costs: In businesses, the amount of wire transfer and deposits are very high as compared to the normal person hence the bank used to charge the entities on that very basis as the relationship between the bank and the customer is based on the amount of the assets used. Therefore, this arrangement changed with the introduction of the internet banking and hence the cost reduced.
   
• Account review: the business proprietors can get their records reviewed very easily without any hassle because of the e-banking services. As the number of transaction is very high, the process of reviewing and auditing their accounts was very difficult through the conventional method but with the introduction of the e-banking services, this process became easy.
   
• Better efficiency: The e-banking services allows the user to get their payments computerized with results in the smooth functioning of the bank accounts. It also provides the user with the facility of checking the records on his own rather than relying on the employees of the bank.
   
• Lesser mistakes: when the number of transactions are more, the chances of mistakes are very high in the conventional method but with the introduction of the e-banking services, this problem has reduced to a very great extent. It has also made it easy for the correction of the mistakes.
   
• Less risks of frauds: as all the records are maintained electronically, the chances of the fraudsters to commit fraud has reduced to some extent. Earlier the fraud in order to commit the crime used to misplaced the physical records and because earlier there used to be only the physical records, the fraudsters used to get away with the crime but now this has changed as now the records are maintained electronically too.

Challenges Faced By E-Banking

Everything and anything that get introduced faces challenges because of the rapid changing nature of the society. Having said so, the banking sector has also faced many challenges as it was developing earlier. Hence the e-banking services that it introduced also has and is still facing certain challenges and some of them are mentioned below:-

• Weak e-finance public support: Because of the lack of cooperative efforts between the private and the public banks, the e-finance initiatives has not turned out to be very successful in our country. The cooperation is very much necessary if either one of the institution (i.e. private bank or public bank) does not have the resources then the other one would support the initiative and help It in becoming a success.
   
• Concerns regarding securities: with the increased dependence of the customers as well as the banks on the e-banking, the threat of fraud is also increasing alongside of that dependency. The banks are very much active in spreading awareness among the customers to save themselves from the fraudsters. The fraudsters are consistently figuring out new ways to rob the customer of their money. Some of the tactics that the fraudster use include phishing, vishing etc.
   
• Growing customer expectations: The customers has gotten used to the fast transaction services provided by the banks and because of that their expectation from the banks are increasing to an un-amounted extent. And when banks fail to meet their expectation they quickly switch to some order bank according to their convenience. The reason behind this increased expectation is the large number of online transaction done by every other person.
   
• Operational issues: The problem of connectivity and failed servers while doing the transactions is a very serious concern for the customer as well as for the banks because the bank might lose a lot of their customers if their customers constantly finds the server not working hence there should be proper maintenance of the server so that it doesn't fail or gets overcrowded.
   
• Lack of trust: Even though there are many people who are using the e-banking facilities to its full extent still there are certain number of people who have not relied on the e-banking service provided by the banks and they still prefer going to the branches in order to get their work done. They fear that if something mishappening takes place then bank will just brush them along with their problems rather than helping them.
   
• No customer-bank Relationship: with the development of the technology and its association in the banking sector, the contact between the customers and the employees has reduced to almost none as all the work can be carried out via the e-service provided by the banks. This has resulted in notion of lack of loyalty of the customer towards the bank. And this is the main reason why the customers are so rapidly switching banks and just focusing on the functions provided by the banks and not giving any credits to the relationship that they share with the bank.

Hence these challenges needs to be taken care of by the banking institutions in order to properly succeed in the banking sector and for being prevalent in the banking sector for many years to come as the competition is rapidly increasing In the said sector which might threatens the position of a particular bank if the problems are left undealt.

Solutions:
Certain solutions are mentioned below that the banking institutions should focus on and should adopt in order to tackle the problems that are faced by them:-

• The concerns regarding the security should be dealt firsthand. The customers should be taken in confidence by adopting proper protocols as well as appropriate security systems. The customers often fear that their data might got leaked aur they might became the victim of the phising but this fear should be eliminated by the banks by providing them with the online help so that they could understand how the e-banking services works and how they should protect themselves from the danger.
   
• Marketing communication techniques should be used in an appropriate manner in order to reach the large mass of consumers. So that the number of people who still hasn't started using the e-banking services provided by the banks to them could get to know about the services and start using them.
   
• The banks should develop better infrastructural facilities so that they can regulate and supervise their policy accordingly and so that they can set up proper helping booth in the banks in order to help the visiting customers and those who doesn't rely on the e-banking services.
   
• The banks should focus on the servers that they use for providing the e-banking services. The servers should be strong enough to handle the traffic and should not fail in between.
   
• The banks should provide of option of giving the feedbacks to the customers alongside with the E-services so that the customers could share with the respective institution what they think about the features and which feature according to them should be improved. By using this way the banks could get to know what the customers are expecting from them and so that they could meet the expectations of the customers. By using this method the practice of rapidly changing bank due to the lack of actions taken by the bank for the purpose of meeting the expectations of the customers will get reduced.

How E-Banking Is Used In Corporate World
E-banking has come to be extensively utilized in the corporate world for a various number of works including the financial work associated with the reporting and analytics. Some of the ways through which the e-banking is used in the corporate world is mentioned below:

• Compliance and Audit Trails:
  E-banking helps in the internal audit of the company and is also used for tracing the transaction history. It also helps in ensuring compliance with the regulatory requirements.
   
• Bulk Payment:
  The corporates uses the services of e-banking for the purpose of making bulk payments as it makes it easy for them to track their transaction history and makes the payment process efficient.
   
• Supply Chain Finance:
  E-banking can help in facilitating the supply chain finance programs allowing the corporate businesses to optimize their working capital by extending payments terms to their suppliers.
   
• Trade Finance Services:
  Some E-banking platforms provide trade finance solutions to the corporate businesses including the letter of credit and trade document management.
   
• Treasury Management:
  large corporations are very much benefitted by the advanced treasury management features like notional pooling, cash concentration and risk management tools.
   
• Custom Reporting and Analytics:
  the clients of the big corporate companies can generate customized financial reports and use the analytical tools provided in order to monitor the performances along with the latest trends which might help them in making strategic decision making.
   
• Cashflow Forecasting:
  E-banking tools helps the corporates by providing the insights regarding the cash flow which leads the corporates in for-casting their liquidity needs and make appropriated decisions.
   
• Account Reconsiliation:
  E-banking services can automate the account reconciliation process by ensuring that the internal financial records align with the bank statements accordingly.
   
• Investment Management:
  E-banking platforms can help the corporates in managing the short term investments along with the long term investments which can result in the maximization of the profits on those investments.
   
• Multi User Access:
  E-banking platforms support multi user access with permission on different levels which help the corporates in collaborative financial management with maintaining proper level of security.

E-banking has become a very integral part in the corporate world as all the companies are making use of it irrespective of their size. It has not been restricted to the large companies only. It has been adopted so widely because It enhances the productivity and reduces the work load off the company employees back by making their work a bit easy and fast.

Conclusion
The banking industry has become the soul of every industry as it manages the money that is used by different industries. The revolution in the banking sector has changed the fundamentals of the banking business and it has paved new opportunities for the customers, banks and companies in the corporate world.

It has been revolutionary as it reduced the cost of transaction, made it easy for the banks and the companies in the corporate world to keep records of it customers and clients, and in addition to that it has made available all the features to the customers on their mobile phones and computers with the help of internet.

But the catch is that along with benefits it provides, it also has a lot of challenges which needs to be taken care of by the banks in order to stay in business for a longer period of time as the competition in this sector has been increasing at a very fast rate. Certain solutions are also present for them to tackle their problem and the bank needs to consistently focus on their problems and work accordingly in order to solve them. The banks should be able to meet the expectation of their customers.

The companies in the corporate world have very much adopted the e-banking service along with its benefits and challenges. As the technology evolves, the e-banking service will too evolve and will offer more ways and services in order to cater the needs of the businesses in the corporate world. It will not be an overstatement to say that the companies in the corporate sectors has completely became dependent on the services provided to them by the e-service platforms.

References:

• www.byjus.com - E-Banking Meaning
• Idfcfirstbank.com - Is E-Banking The Same As Internet Banking
• Geniemoneyy.com - Evolution Of The Banks
• E-Banking Trends In India - N.Mari Anand
• Internet Banking- Benefits And Challenges In The Emerging Economy- Jayshree Chavan
• Researchgate.net - E-Banking Challenges And Opportunities In The Indian Banking Sector