The banking industry has been evolving over the past few decades. As new technologies are introduced, banks come up with new ways to do business and make banking transactions more efficient, thus attracting more customers. As we enter the Internet age, banks manage to cope with the environment and meet the demands of a highly competitive industry.

Attracting customers to come to banks is historical. The current trend is to bring banks closer to customers locally and globally with the Internet. Today, you can open an account, check your balance, pay your bills and transfer funds anytime, anywhere. You can now shop online and make purchases in the comfort of your home, avoiding the unpleasant scenario of elbowing your way through the crowds and falling in line for what seems like forever. With Internet banks, you can do almost anything you can do with traditional banks.

As many local banks put up their own websites that allow their customers to conduct transactions online, many new Internet banks begin to rise. The advent of these new online banks has paved way to a fiercer competition. It has become a sort of contest between banks over who has the most efficient system, more friendly interface, more excellent customer service and of course, more clients. Because the Internet is a global medium, the trend now is to break national borders and draw customers from different parts of the world. Thus, international Internet banks start to burgeon in the speed of light.

Two of the most popular international online banks are the ING Direct and the eTrade Bank. Although based in one country, these banks offer services to its clients around the world (mostly in North America). In the other side of the Atlantic, there are also flourishing online banks serving the Europeans. The largest of which is the RaboBank, a Dutch online bank, closely followed by the Swedish SEB (Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken). To find out more about these banks and other international Internet institutions, read on and see what they can offer.