Online banking

Online banking also known as internet banking, e-banking, or virtual banking, is an electronic payment system that enables customers of a bank or other financial institution to conduct a range of financial transactions through the financial institution's website. The online banking system will typically connect to or be part of the core banking system operated by a bank and is in contrast to branch banking that was the traditional way customers access banking services.

To access a financial institution's online banking facility, a customer with internet access would need to register with the institution for the service, and set up a password and other credentials for customer verification. The credentials for online banking is normally not the same as for telephone or mobile banking. Financial institutions now routinely allocate customers numbers, whether or not customers have indicated an intention to access their online banking facility. Customers' numbers are normally not the same as account numbers, because a number of customer accounts can be linked to the one customer number. The customer number can be linked to any account that the customer controls, such as cheque, savings, loan, credit card and other accounts.

Bank

A bank is a financial institution that creates credit by lending money to a borrower, thereby creating a corresponding deposit on the bank's balance sheet. Lending activities can be performed either directly or indirectly through capital markets. Due to their importance in the financial system and influence on national economies, banks are highly regulated in most countries. Most nations have institutionalized a system known as fractional reserve banking under which banks hold liquid assets equal to only a portion of their current liabilities. In addition to other regulations intended to ensure liquidity, banks are generally subject to minimum capital requirements based on an international set of capital standards, known as the Basel Accords.

Banking in its modern sense evolved in the 14th century in the rich cities of Renaissance Italy but in many ways was a continuation of ideas and concepts of credit and lending that had their roots in the ancient world. In the history of banking, a number of banking dynasties — notably, the Medicis, the Fuggers, the Welsers, the Berenbergs and the Rothschilds — have played a central role over many centuries. The oldest existing retail bank is Monte dei Paschi di Siena, while the oldest existing merchant bank is Berenberg Bank.

Online and offline

The terms "online" and "offline" have specific meanings in regard to computer technology and telecommunications in which "online" indicates a state of connectivity, while "offline" indicates a disconnected state. Common vernacular extended from their computing and telecommunication meanings and refers specifically to an Internet connection. Lastly, in the area of human interaction and conversation, discussions taking place during a business meeting are "online", while issues that do not concern all participants of the meeting should be "taken offline" — continued outside of the meeting.

Definitions

In computer technology and telecommunication, online and offline are defined by Federal Standard 1037C. They are states or conditions of a "device or equipment" or of a "functional unit". To be considered online, one of the following may apply to a system: it is under the direct control of another device; it is under the direct control of the system with which it is associated; or it is available for immediate use on demand by the system without human intervention.

Tips & Tricks (magazine)

Tips & Tricks was a monthly print magazine devoted to the subjects of video-game cheat codes, strategy guides and lifestyle content. Unlike most video-game magazines, it did not include critical reviews of video games and was not a primary source of video-game industry news. Instead, it focused on gameplay instructions and hidden "Easter eggs" relating to games that its readers might have already purchased.

Editorial Content

Often referring to itself as "The #1 Video-Game Tips Magazine," Tips & Tricks was known for its strategy guides or walkthroughs for contemporary console and portable games. Each issue also included an index of button codes and passwords, alphabetized by game title and sorted by console. The magazine was also noteworthy for its "lifestyle" content, in which a particular aspect of video-game culture would be discussed at length by a regular columnist. Some of these were devoted to a specific game or game series (e.g. Armored Core, Pokémon, Halo, Animal Crossing), while others spotlighted video game-related action figures, comics, music and movies.

Bandhan Bank

Bandhan Bank Ltd. (Bengali: বন্ধন ব্যাঙ্ক) is an Indian banking and financial services company headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal.Bandhan, which started as a micro-finance company in 2001, received banking licence by Reserve Bank of India in 2014.

On 24 August 2015, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley officially inaugurated the bank in Kolkata. Initially it opened with 501 branches across India. Bandhan Bank was incorporated on 23 December 2014 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Bandhan Financial Holdings. Bandhan received the in-principle approval of the (RBI) for setting up a universal bank in April 2014; the banking regulator gave its final nod in June 2015.

Incidentally, Kolkata-headquartered Bandhan is the first bank to be set up in eastern part of India after Independence.

Bandhan Financial Holdings is owned by Bandhan Financial Services Limited (BFSL), the largest micro finance organization in India. Its public shareholders include International Finance Corporation (IFC), Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), Caladium Investment Pte. Ltd. (a company managed by GIC Special Investments Private Limited), Bandhan Employees Welfare Trust, and a few individuals.