internet banking services - a business necessity in the third millennium

In this paper, we have presented several theoretical aspects of internet banking, based on the place of this type of services in the range of electronic services within the banking system and further on we have revealed the obvious benefits that these services have for individuals and legal entities, as well as their security features. The second part of the paper highlights some statistical aspects of online banking penetration in EU countries and in Romania by comparison. Based on the statistical data presented by Romanian banking institutions, we have made a comparison of the number of individuals and legal entities who access internet banking services.