The number of banks and thrifts that offer financial services over the Internet is increasing rapidly in the U.S. By using .transactional websites,. customers can check account balances, transfer funds, pay (and perhaps receive) bills, apply for loans, and perform a variety of other financial transactions without leaving their home or place of business. Approximately 1,100 U.S. banks and thrifts operated transactional websites at year-end 1999.an elevenfold increase over yearend 1997.and projections by bank regulators suggest that nearly half of U.S. banks will offer transactional websites by late 2001 or early 2002 (Furst, Lang, and Nolle, 2000).