1. With the advent of virtual banks ("clicks") and the convenience they provide, a key question is whether they will become the primary form in which banks do their business, eliminating the need for physical bank branches ("bricks") as the main delivery mechanism for banking services. Indeed, will stand-alone Internet banks be the wave of the future?
2. The answer seems to be “no”. Internet-only banks such as Wingspan, First-e, and Egg have had disappointing revenue growth and profits. The result is that pure online banking has not been the success that proponents had hoped for. Why has Internet banking been a disappointment?
3. There have been several strikes against Internet banking. First, bank depositors want to know that their savings are secure, and that is why they are reluctant to put their money into new institutions without a long track record. Second, customers worry about the security of their electronic transactions and whether their transactions will truly be kept private. Traditional banks are viewed as being more secure and trustworthy in terms of releasing private information. Third, customers may prefer services provided by physical branches. For example, banking customers seem to prefer to purchase long-term savings products face-to-face. Fourth, Internet banking has run into technical problems - server crashes, slow connections over phone lines, mistakes in conducting transactions -that will probably diminish over time as technology improves.
4. The wave of the future thus does not appear to be pure Internet banks. Instead it looks like "clicks and bricks" will be the predominant form of banking, in which online banking is used to complement the
services provided by traditional banks. Nonetheless, the delivery of banking services is undergoing massive changes, with more and more banking services delivered over the Internet and the number of physical bank branches likely to decline in the future.
Ex. 1 Decide whether the information is: True False Not stated
Internet-only banks have growing profits.
Ex. 2 Decide whether the information is: True False Not stated
Bank depositors prefer banks with solid reputation over years.
Ex. 3 Decide whether the information is: True False Not stated
Technical problems related to Internet banking are temporary.
Ex. 4 Decide whether the information is: True False Not stated
Hackers are a serious threat for Internet banking.
Ex. 5 In what paragraph (1, 2, 3, 4) is there the following information?
Physical branches of banks provide most of banking services nowadays.
Ex. 6 In what paragraph (1, 2, 3, 4) is there the following information?
Soon most of banking services will be Internet-based.
Ex. 7 Answer the following question: Why has Internet banking been a disappointment?
· There has not been enough advertising.
· There has been too much advertising.
· It is not secure and trustworthy enough.
· Internet banking is used for criminal purposes.
Ex. 8 What is the main idea of the text?
· “Clicks” will replace “bricks”.
· “Bricks” will eliminate “clicks”.
· “Clicks” will merge with “bricks”.
· There are too many problems with virtual banks.