If you're interested in handling some of your finances online, you might not have to switch banks. Most of the country's big banks, and many of the smaller ones, have Web sites that offer at least some functionality. Brick-and-mortar banks with Web sites are sometimes called clicks-and-mortar banks. You can talk to a teller at a branch, use the bank's ATMs, call a customer-service line, and visit the bank's Web site.

Then there are the virtual banks -- institutions that have no branches. You can't visit a teller and usually you have to use another bank's ATMs. Most of your dealings with the bank are online or by phone.

You could even combine virtual banking with online trading. E-Trade, the online brokerage, owns E-Trade Bank, a virtual bank formerly known as Telebank. Prominent virtual banks such as First Internet Bank of Indiana and Netbank allow you to link your bank account to an affiliated brokerage account.

Some of the country's biggest clicks-and-mortar banks, including Citibank, Bank of America, Bank One and First Union, will let you bank online and trade online through their investing subsidiaries.