| page 2 and final page - Finding Bank and Banking-related Information On the Internet previous page VI. Electronic Banking. Electronic banking, with its use of technology and automation, adds another important dimension to banking processes. Electronic banking offers many advantages, already plays an essential role in many companies, and its use no doubt will only increase. But, with the advantages, complexity is present and needed expertise arises. Sites that were found on the Internet with potential useful information to the accountant and company’s use of electronic banking are included in this section. 1. Electronic Fund Transfer Act’s Key Points for Consumers. www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/consumerhdbk/electronic.htm. This link takes you to a page, maintained by the Federal Reserve, which provides information on some of the key points of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act that users of electronic banking might like to know. 2. Risks In International Electronic Banking. www.bis.org/publ/bcbs98.htm. This link takes you to a site, maintained by the Bank for International Settlements, at which is information on risks found in international electronic banking. 3. Electronic Banking Information From the OCC. www.occ.treas.gov/netbank/netbank.htm. This link takes you to a site, maintained by the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), at which is provided guidance, news releases, fraudulent activities, Internet banking, and other information related to electronic banking. 4. Bank’s Routing Numbers. www.fededirectory.frb.org. This link takes you to a site, maintained by the Federal Reserve System, from which you can obtain bank routing numbers and other information on those banks, such as addresses. There is also a frequently asked questions page about the electronic paying system maintained by the Federal Reserve. 5. Selecting Electronic Payment Processors (Merchant Services). http://sbinformation.about.com/cs/technology/a/paymt.htm. This link takes you to an article on questions you should ask when selecting an electronic payment service provider (a merchant service). The article is written by William Hamilton, and is found on the about.com website. Other articles and information related to electronic payments can be linked to from this site. 6. A Merchant Services Resource Site. www.verisign.com/verisign-business-solutions/merchant-service/index.html. This link takes you to a site, maintained by Verisign, Inc., at which you can find information on some of the details of “merchant services” or merchant use of credit cards and other forms of electronic payments. VII. Checks and Other Bank Procedures. Websites that might provide useful information to accountants on various procedures used in banking, such as the handling of checks, were searched for. The websites found, with what seems like potentially useful information, are included in this section. 1. The Checking Clearing For the 21st Century Act. www.federalreserve.gov/paymentsystems/truncation/default.htm. This link takes you to a Federal Reserve site that provides details on the 21st Century Check Clearing Act and what it means for check clearing. Answers to frequently asked questions are provided. 2. Check Information. www.answers.com/topic/cashier-s-check . This link takes you to an answers.com site, at which is information on what a cashier’s check is and how to use one. From this site you can link to other answers.com sites dealing with stop payments, bounced and rubber checks, checking accounts, eurocheques, certified checks, and regular checks. 3. Electronic Check Conversion. www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/checkconv. This link takes you to a site, maintained by the Federal Reserve Board, which provides information on how checks can be used by merchants for an electronic payment, rather than a payment by the check. VIII. Illegal Activities. Since banks do deal, as one of their primary services, in the handling of money, bank procedures, processes, and inventory continue to be the focus of illegal activities having the purpose of stealing this money. Websites found, which might be useful in helping accounting and other company personnel understand and best react to such illegal activity, are included in this section. 1. Check Fraud Resource Center. www.ckfraud.org. This link takes you to a site, maintained by the National Check Fraud Center, that provides information on counterfeit checks, forgery, check fraud, bank fraud, and white-collar crimes. General check information and information on bad check laws are provided. 2. A DOJ Site On Identity Theft. www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/idtheft.html. This link takes you to a Department of Justice (DOJ) site on identity theft, at which you can learn about what identity theft is, how it is committed, and what you should do about it. Links are provided to other useful sites. 3. The SSA Page On Identity Theft. www.ssa.gov/pubs/idtheft.htm. This link takes you to a Social Security Administration (SSA) site, which focuses in on theft and misuse of social security numbers. 4. The FTC Page On Identity Theft. www.consumer.gov/idtheft. This link takes you to a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) site, which serves as a good resource site on identity theft. Useful information includes what to do in fraud involving your credit card, details on various ways identity information is stolen and used improperly, and various laws related to identity theft. 5. Imolin, an International Money Laundering Resource Site. www.imolin.org/imolin/index.html. This link takes you to a site, maintained by the United Nations at which you can gain access to laws and research and analysis reports dealing with money laundering, links to many sites relevant to money laundering, and other money laundering-related information. From this site, you can link to the Financial Action Task Force, the Asian Pacific Group on Money Laundering, and other groups formed to combat money laundering. 6. The UN’s Anti-Money Laundering Home Page. www.unodc.org/unodc/en/money-laundering/index.html. This link takes you to the United Nations website that deals with money laundering and the UN’s anti-money laundering programs. IX. Resource Centers For Banking Information. Some of the websites that were found in the Internet search for banking information have a widely encompassing amount of useful bank and banking information. Information can be found at the sites in many of the categories above, plus additional ones. Websites identified in this section are such resource centers for banking information. 1. The BankersOnline Resource Center. www.bankersonline.com/index.html. This link takes you to the BankersOnline website, at which is much information, in the form of questions and answers and reports, on such topics as: compliance; lending; operations; security; marketing; and electronic banking. The site is focused primarily on supporting banks. 2. Yahoo’s Banking Site. http://dir.yahoo.com/business_and_economy/finance_and_investment/banking. This link takes you to a Yahoo site, which has many links to websites with banking information. Banking topics for which links are given include: automated teller machines (ATMs); internet banking; central banks; banking laws; bank rates; and other information. 3. Banking Information at the Federal Reserve. www.federalreserve.gov/banknreg.htm. This link takes you to a Federal Reserve site, which has links to: US banking data; the US banking structure; bank ratings; banking regulations; and other banking information. 4. Banking Information at the OCC. www.occ.treas.gov. This link takes you to the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)’s home page. Click on Public Information and you will find information on banks. Clicking "Subject Index” will give you many useful links to banking information. 5. A Banking Resource Site. www.virtualchase.com/resources/banking.shtml. This link takes you to a site, maintained by Ballard Sparks Andrews & Ingersoll, from which you can link to dozens of websites with banking information. Information can be found on the following topics related to banks and banking: government regulators and regulations; banking statistics; and international banking laws. 6. European Central Bank. www.ecb.int/index.html. This link takes you to a site, maintained by the European Central Bank, from which you can gain access to interest rates, statistics, and the Euro. Links are provided to European Union country central banks. 7. Links to Federal Reserve Banks and Information. www.federalreserveonline.org. This link takes you to a site, maintained by the Federal Reserve, which has links to the websites of each of the 12 Federal Reserve banks. Links are also provided to other important Federal Reserve resource sites on such topics as: the Board of Governors; financial services; and economic education. X. Conclusion. The over 40 sites identified in this article lead to a lot of information on banking and banks. In addition to links to these websites, in this article, additional links to banking-related information can be found starting from the front page of the Management Accounting Information Center (MAIC). Many links leading to sites with information on various types of electronic payments (e.g. ACH, direct payment, direct deposit, fedACH, payment cards, and others) can be found by clicking on the MAIC front-page topic “Accounts receivable, accounts payable, inventory, and working capital” (along the right on the front page), and then clicking “Accounts Payable”, and the ‘Electronic Payments”. Clicking on “Definitions and explanations of terms, abbreviations, and acronyms” and then clicking on “Banking, lending, payment, bond, and treasury management terms” can lead you to bank term definitions and explanations Clicking on the front-page topic “Journals, magazines, and news articles on accounting and other business topics” will lead you to business and research articles, news stories, and government reports dealing with banks and banking. The more than 40 links provided in this article are also quickly available by clicking on the MAIC front-page topic “Banking, cash, and debt management” and then “Banks and banking”. Please click here to return to the front page of the Management Accounting Information Center. Please click here if you would like to send e-mail to comment on this article or to suggest a topic for another article. |