We've got an Egg and a Smile, and this Thursday could well see the arrival of yet another internet bank with a funny name. That's when Abbey National will unveil more details about its new separately-branded, stand-alone internet bank, due to open for business in May or June.
Its name is a closely guarded secret but the project currently has the working title of "Aquarius" so perhaps we can expect something with a new age flavour.
Abbey National clearly doesn't believe in doing things by halves - as well as pouring money into this separate venture, it is also launching its own internet banking service, which is due to be up and running by the end of April and will operate alongside its branch network and phone banking service.
All this emphasis on feverishly developing net-related services might seem over the top, but the traditional high street banks are terrified about seeing all the money they are looking after disappear into the cyber-coffers of internet upstarts.
All the evidence suggests that thousands of people are switching on to internet banking every day. Barclays has predicted that approaching 10m Britons will be signing up for net banking by the end of this year, and by and large, these are just the sort of people the banks are desperate to woo. One recent survey found that the average household income for those net users who regularly check out personal finance websites is £30,000, compared with just over £26,000 for internet users as a whole.
The latest company to join the online charge is Virgin Direct, which today launches what it claims is one of the most advanced internet banking services yet developed. It will offer many of the usual online facilities such as bill paying and standing or der and direct debit amendments, but, unlike some other services, customers will not have to apply or register to use it or install new software. It is available from Wednesday to all 25,000 people who have the company's Virgin One all-in-one mortgage and current account.
What makes the service unique, says a spokesman, is that customers will also be able to access information about other Virgin Direct products they hold including savings, Peps, Isas and pensions. All Virgin One customers are being sent a credit card carrying a 13-digit number which they will need to access the service.
Meanwhile, NatWest this week revealed that more than 100,000 people have al ready signed up for its internet banking service, even though it only launched at the end of November. Around 1,700 people a day have been joining and the bank says it is on its way to hitting its target of 1m users this year.
At the moment, NatWest's service is fairly plain and simple - you can transfer money, pay bills, check your balance, view recent transactions, and so on. However, it claims it will be the first UK bank to offer instant, low-cost term assurance cover on the net when this is added to its website (www.natwest.com) later this month. Over the next few months NatWest plans to add savings, investments, mortgages, credit cards, loans and other products to its online portfolio.
The level of internet service on offer, and the different functions available, can vary dramatically from bank to bank. Remarkably, HSBC (formerly Midland Bank) still doesn't offer internet banking at all - it says its service will be launched in the second half of this year.
The Halifax's service, which went live in October, is one of the more basic - while you can pay bills and make fund transfers to other Halifax accounts, in both cases these have to be set up offline first. However, the former building society has been concentrating on the launch this coming summer of its own separately-branded, stand-alone internet bank, currently called "Greenfield.co".
Among the most sophisticated of the online services are those offered by Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays. RBS's allows customers to set up and make person-to-person payments to other UK bank or building society accounts, set up bill payments and standing orders, and diarise payments and money transfers up to 120 days in advance. The Barclays internet banking service - Britain's most popular with around 500,000 users - also allows people to transfer money to any UK bank or building society account and control regular payments, which includes setting up, amending and cancelling standing orders, and paying bills now or at a later date.
Of the internet banking new entrants, the best-known include Smile (www.smile.co.uk) and First-e (www.first-e.com). Smile, set up by the Co-operative Bank in October, has as its flagship product a current account which pays 4.59% gross on credit balances.
First-e, a subsidiary of French bank Banque d'Escompte, currently offers only an online savings account, but later this year will launch a current account offering free banking, a "high" rate of interest, a cheque book, debit card and an instant secured overdraft facility.
