Donna Huffam
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Jan 10/00) - For many southerners, banking is a simple choice of either stopping by a branch on the way home from work or using one of the many bank machines.

But banking is not that simple for many Northerners who live in communities where there is no bank.

Northerners are therefore leading the trend in remote banking, embracing the new technology and using it to improve their financial futures.

The Canadian Banking Association estimates that more than 85 per cent of daily transactions are now done electronically. While most of that is from debit card, telephone and ATM use, there has been a huge increase in the number of people using the Internet to avoid standing in a line at the bank.

Yellowknife's Toronto Dominion Branch manager Erin Raves feels that Northerners are taking advantage of this new banking convenience in a much bigger way than communities down south.

"I would suggest that we are head and shoulders above the people down south. Probably out of necessity and of a matter of convenience. People up here work longer, different hours and they tend to be much more self-reliant. They like to do what they want, when they want to do it," said Raves.

In smaller communities, people have become comfortable with not only the bank machines but also debit cards. Scott McKee, assistant manager of personal financial services at the Royal Bank, Yellowknife says, "I've seen the use of debit cards expand quite a bit at the retailers. It's really growing and a fair number of people use it because of the remoteness."

Debit cards have become as popular as cash in cities across Canada and it is actually the preferred method of payment for purchases between $25 and $100. And telephone banking remains popular as clients pay bills, check balances, transfer funds and conduct financial transactions over the telephone.

As inexpensive access to Internet connections expands throughout the North, many are choosing to conduct their business online. A simple call to your bank's 1-800 number is all you need to connect most users.

By entering your bank card number and then your password, you can download your account information from the bank's Web site. Over the past few years, banks have simplified the process, allowing the consumer to easily navigate through the options.

And there are lots of options. Not only can you find the balances for your chequing and savings accounts, today's online banking sites offer such things as investment planning. You can now buy, sell and transfer mutual funds, buy and renew guaranteed investment certificates (GICs) and self-direct your RRSPs.

You can create a purchase plan for your RRSP or mutual funds and check a history to follow its growth.

Most banks allow you to trade North American stocks, options, bonds and T-bills.

Many include free access to investment information including Reuters news, market index updates, mutual funds data, T-bill/bond rates, and index, stock, and option quotes for all major North American exchanges.

Finally, you can create a personalized portfolio to track your investments or possible investments over a certain period.

Inuvik's Janet Mundrick welcomes the easy access to banks through online banking.

"All of our banking is done online, mostly because of the convenience of it, 24-hour-a-day access. We pay our bills, use it to self-direct our RRSPs, pretty much everything. If we were going to get a mortgage, we would do that online, too."

While most people choose to stay with their current bank, some are opting for banks that are exclusively online. These online banks maintain that without the "brick and mortar" overhead of traditional banks, they can offer substantially higher interest rates on your average savings account.

Indeed, while the larger banks are currently offering a mere quarter of a per cent return on savings accounts, some of the online banks are offering four to five per cent interest. It may, however, take awhile before these "virtual" banks lure the average consumer.

Faith and trust are important aspects of choosing a financial institution and consumer confidence in the power of the Internet may not have reached that height, yet.

Northerners are now free to take charge of their financial futures despite the remoteness of their locale. They are taking advantage of this freedom to make better financial decisions for themselves and their families.