INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT 1 : DUE DATE: 10/06/21

1) Using practical examples, discuss the benefits, challenges and critical success
factors of E banking. (15 MARKS)

E banking has been defined in several ways, For example, Economic and Political week (2004)
defined e banking as the provision of banking products and services through electronic delivery
channels. It is simply a method of banking in which the customer conducts transactions
electronically via the internet. This can be achieved through methods like telephone banking,
mobile banking, short message service banking, interactive – tv banking amongst others for
transactions like withdrawal, deposit, inter account transfer, inquiry, administrative transactions
that covers non-financial transactions including PIN change .

E banking has made life much easier and banking much faster for both customers and banks. It
saves on time spent in the bank because it enables customers to pay bills online, one does not
have to wait for a turn. This can be achieved by simply logging into an account and pay the bill
instantly. For increased efficiency, one may set up automated bill payments, this helps to manage
cash flow when there are monthly payments to and from vendors. One does not need to be
physically at the bank, this can be done at the comfort of home or office. Rather than driving to
the bank and wait in a queue, one may be able to deposit cheque(s) online in a few minutes, there
is no need to wait for cheques to clear. Most banks have applications that replicates their services
on phones or computers. For instance, when one is in a hurry to pay school fees or get a loan,
one transact immediately via the bank’s app or website without going physically to the bank or
the school to deposit the fees.

E banking provides ways for international banking. Customers may transact internationally
without even going there. In Zimbabwe, this became popular over the past few years, where a lot
of people could purchase second hand cars from Japan without even going there. It is also
popular on online buying from China. E- Commerce life has been made easier through E
banking.
Lower overhead fees are realized when doing E banking because online banks may not have to
pay for the cost and upkeep of branches, this will reduce on banking fees. The bank will also
have less human capital, thereby reducing on salaries expanses and so forth.

Another benefit for E banking is that it allows discounts for Credit cards and debits cards for
customers at point of sale. For example some banks may have promotions for customers who use
their point of sale machines in supermarkets e.g FBC bank had this promotion last year. A lot of
online banks offer more benefits and rewards to their customers that not only benefit the bank
but also benefit their customers. Banks usually offer higher interest rates and better transfer
services to customers who regularly use online banking. They do this to encourage customers to
do their transactions electronically because they have to bear reduced costs when serving online
customers.
Therefore, the overall banking experience is obviously better than that of visiting a physical bank
branch and handling the same transaction.

When transacting on electronically, customer may have notifications and Alerts instantly about
any new changes or activities on their accounts. For example changes of logins from new
devices, customers get instant notifications and alerts through probably get a text alert or a
customer service agent may call to notify about major changes. Chances are, you’re missing out
on a lot of changes. Banks also endorse new products, services and schemes like new investment
options, changes in the loan policies, etc. to online customers first.

It offers convenience to customers since they are not required to go to the bank’s facilities
physically. It provides convenience in terms of capital, labour, time all the resources needed to
make a transaction. One conveniently handle account transactions without all the hassle of being
in the queue on a sultry afternoon. A decent internet connection of 3G/4G is needed for it to be
extremely convenient. As long as needs don’t involve the assistance of any staff member or a
manager, online banking is the best option for banking.

With internet banking, customers can always monitor their account activities. It provides some
security and privacy to customers, by using state-of-the-art encryption and security technologies.
This not only serves as a history of all the transactions but also helps you identify threats and
suspicious activities before any severe damage can be done to an account. Online accounts are
protected with encryption software that ensures complete safety to the user. Alerts related to
passwords and digital signatures are sent periodically to maintain the security of the account.

E banking is easy to access throughout the year 24/7 days from any place have internet access.
The customer can easily transfer the funds from one place to another place electronically.
Customers simply have to type in the log-in credentials to access online accounts. In addition to
that, customers can also handle several accounts at a time or access different accounts in
different banks from a single device.

There is a very low incidence of errors since the whole process is done electronically unlike
traditional banking because machine are more accurate and efficient than humans. Humans may
tire, get sick or under perform for other reasons but machine do not. The speed of a machine is
faster than that of humans.

E banking has a benefit of lesser Limitations. Traditional banks have several constraints like
operating hours, the physical location of the bank branch, holidays, etc. customers can perform
transactions regardless of time. For example one does not have to worry whether it is midnight or
it is on a holiday or a Sunday, the app or website will be available twenty-four hours a day,
throughout the year.

Customers who transact with E banking More Features have an advantage of more feature on the
website or app. For example, banks generally offer more offers and discounts on credit and debit
cards used by customers who have online accounts.

Everyone and everything has some shortcomings, in as much as E banking is encouraged by

banks it has its drawbacks or challenges. One of the challenges is that, E banking may be
difficult for beginners to use. As there is no training for new users, each user may have to
explore for themselves all the options and features that are available on the website or app. Some
customers may get used to it with more time and practice while other customers may be scared to
lose their money and became hesitant to learn for themselves. This may result in new users
giving up and preferring traditional banking.
Trust and Responsibility may be a big challenge on E banking as fake websites and phishing are
common in this age of technology.
Customers trust real banks and they feel their money is safer there because they know he bank
will be responsible for it. They do not trust site because there is fear that if a website folds up, all
their money will be gone in just a blink of an eye and no one will be accountable for that.

E baking service is available throughout the year but in certain instances can be inconvenient.
For example, a customer can get locked out of account say maybe they entered the incorrect
credentials by mistake, they will be unable to perform any banking transactions. Whereas in a
real bank where customers establish relationships with the staff, they may be assisted in such
cases. Another inconvenience is on cash deposits, very few banks allow online cash deposits
otherwise to deposit cash one will be required to email a check and transfer money from another
account or bank, or use their e-check deposit service.

Inability to Handle Complex Transactions is a challenge on E banking.

While customers can make bill payments and other make transfers, they cannot perform complex
transactions online especially those that involve large amounts. Banks do not advise transaction
with large sums of money to be performed online as they may require verification first. For
example if a customer would like to purchase a house, it is better to go in person as they will
require some documents for verification.

Privacy and security is a major challenge when it comes to E banking. Most established banks
have very good security, however there is always a risk of identify or actual theft all systems are
prone to hacks. For example one may get unauthorized access to your account via a stolen or
hacked log-in credentials. In order to minimize this, users are urged to have a strong password
based on a combination of numbers, symbols and letters and also change passwords regularly.
Users should not click any links in text messages if they have not agreed to that method of
communication and use two step authentication to add extra layer of security.
E banking may be a challenge if there are technology disruptions for example, if there is no
decent connection, there are bugs in the software, or even power cut, the servers may go down. If
servers are down, the users will definitely some face technological issues. Where as in traditional
banks, there is always someone to assist as long as it is within their operating time.

There is lack of a personal relationship in E banking. A personal relationship with a bank may be
able to offer an advantage over online banking. For example, If a customer need a business loan,
a new line of credit, a waived fee or to make changes to current banking needs, having that
relationship can help because a personal banker will also know transaction history, personal
details and will be in a better position to assist. In traditional banking, relationships can also help
you craft a business account tailored to your specific needs. When one needs assistance during E
banking, an anonymous customer service agent is assigned, who is unlikely to know the
customer personally.

Illiteracy is also a challenge on E banking. Not everyone is able to transact electronically

especially the elderly. For example a 90 year old pensioner I the rural areas may find it very
difficult to do transact electronically due to literacy and perhaps internet connection.

REF : Chen T (1999) Critical success factors for various strategies in the banking industry.
International Journal of Bank Marketing 17 (2), 83–91.

Critical success factors have been defined in several ways depending on the purpose for which
they were used. For example, Rockart (1979) defined it as “the limited number of areas in which
results, if they are satisfactory, will ensure successful competitive performance for the
organization”.

The factors found to be most critical for success in e-banking included: understanding customers,
organisational flexibility, availability of resources, systems security, established brand name,
having multiple integrated channels, e-channel specific marketing, systems integration,
systematic change management, support ..

For E banking to be a success efficient and quick customer service has to be prioritized. The
increasing amount of information on the internet and changes in social behavior have decreased
the loyalty factor considerably. Technology and competition have increased choice of products
and providers. These changes will result in growth in users with sophisticated needs
(Jayawardhna and Foley, 2000). E banking service providers need to up their game also by
efficient and quick customer service.

Companies need to transform their internal foundations to be effective, to succeed in E banking

because of increasing amount of information on the internet and changes in social behavior.
Current business designs and organizational models are insufficient to meet the challenges of
doing business in the e-commerce era (El Sawy et al., 1999). Therefore one critical issue is re-
engineering of the business processes which also include technological process.

Security is a success factor of E banking. This includes protection of customers’ personal data
and safe transactions to prevent theft and fraud. This factor has been cited as very critical by
Enos (2001), Turba et al.,(2000) and Regan Macaluso (2000). Security in this context includes
secure transactions as well as secure front end and back end systems.

Simplifying and integrating basic services such as banking and lending, insurance, investment
and payments, personalization and customization capabilities in order to provide each customer
with unique experience is paramount for the growth of E business. Customers do not want to
navigate from website to keep track of their finances. Web based services have to be more
convenient, easier to use, and less expensive than the alternative, to win the loyalty of consumers
(Cronin, 1998).

Another success factor is gathering data about customers. Data is gathered during the customer
interaction with the bank and the data can be analyzed using data mining techniques. This s used
for marketing decision support. This creates deeper understanding of the customers (Franco and
Klei, 1999).
2) Online security is an issue of concern for both organisations and their customers, identify and
discuss the major online information gathering tools and how they impact on online security'.
(15 MARKS)

General search engines like Google and Bing are actually powerful online data gathering tools.
They operate by sending "spiders" to crawl the Internet and build enormous indexes of the
information contained in billions of websites. When a user enters a keyword to search, the
search engine collects data from all over the Internet, groups results in order of usefulness and
presents the information to in convenient snippets. This is not secure at all as information is
accessed by anyone at any time as and when the search. However companies and customers
man install antivirus software to blocks malware and other malicious viruses from entering your
device and compromising your data. Using a firewall is also important when defending your data
against malicious attacks. A firewall helps screen out hackers, viruses, and other malicious
activity that occurs over the Internet and determines what traffic is allowed to enter your device.
Customers may Protect their Sensitive Personal Identifiable Information (PII), Personal
Identifiable Information (PII) is any information that can be used by a cybercriminal to identify
or locate an individual.

There are also specialty search engines that can be used on particular types of content. Google
offers specialized search tools for images, patents, financial information and historical
newspapers. To gather Science information, one may use Sci Seek as a specialty search engine.
Many other search tools can help gather data on select topics, such as people, companies, blogs
and genealogy

For surveys, online information gathering tool used is Survey monkey, google forms or Zoho
survey. These allows to create customised surveys that one can send to a select audience or
open broadly to all viewers who sees it. The data can be presented in both detailed and
summarized formats.
Go stats is a tool used by website owners interested in search engine optimization. It provides
website analytics that detail information such as how many people visit their site, how long
they stay when they visit and how they found their site.

Companies may use databases as information gathering tools. These databases allows users to
design an online query and retrieve data. Examples of popular database systems are census
bureau’s American Fact Finder, used for United States statistics. Databases are secure because
there is backup facility and only authorized people can access the database by use of log in
credentials. However it is prone to internal threats as information may be misused.

Most companies use Nmap for network scanner as an online information gathering tools. It can
be used not only to scan ports and service fingerprinting, but also as a DNS enumeration and
network mapping tool. This is very secure as no finger print will match the other, each person
has a unique finger print.

Unicorn scan is used in conjunction with Nmap to give the complete picture of any remote
network or host, as it is able to perform asynchronous stateless TCP scanning with all variations
of TCP flags, and TCP banner grabbing, async UDP Scanning, OS fingerprinting, and much
more. There is low security risk on this one as each one has unique finger prints. However it is
prone to attacks of IoT, as they may gain access to the gadget and malware aattacks on the
gadget.

Sub lister is tool used for enumeration and it helps to create a virtual subdomain map of any
website in no time. It uses Google dorks and other search engines such as Baidu, Ask, Yahoo or
Bing, it can also be used to perform a brute force subdomain discovery attack with wordlists, to
its sub route integration.

Deep magic Information Gathering Tool, and is one of the top terminal-based tools when it
comes to intel reconnaissance tasks. It allow to get any available data from any host, such as
subdomains, email addresses, open ports, WHOIS lookups, server data, and more. This tool is of
great risk as far as security is concerned as information from company emails may be gathered,
however this can be curbed by use of two factor or multi factor authentication. Customers and
organisations have a risk of ransonware.

The inspector tool is a of greatest security risk as it enables to fetch all kinds of website-related
information, such as page data, phone number, ip addresses of HTTP and email server, perform a
domain WHOIS lookup, bypass the Cloudflare proxy, check the age of your domain name, scan
remote active services, subdomain mapping, and even work as a CMS detector. It is also prone to
Trojan.

Dev ploit tool is used to extract DNS and domain data, including DNS lookups, WHOIS lookup
information, reverse IP info, port scanning, DNS zone transfer, HTTP-headers, GEOIP lookup,
subnet lookup, etc. It creates room for spoofing and phishing of customers.

Better cap also known as the swiss army knife for networking, it is used mostly for network
recon and information gathering, especially for WiFi, Bluetooth low energy devices and Ethernet
networks. The network will be prone to malware.

Trace route is one of the most popular network tools used to track the path of networks packets
between one IP address to another, it’s a powerful recon tool that will let you gain critical
network information about IP addresses and networking routes. The network is prone to malware
and spyware.