NR 2000-18
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    
Contact: Robert M. Garsson (202) 874-5770
March 15, 2000                                                                       


                   OCC LAUNCHES INTERNET BANKING WEBSITE

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
(OCC) today added an Internet banking section to its Web site. 
The move is meant to accommodate increasing interest among
bankers and others in OCC initiatives and actions on Internet
banking.  

"We want to provide easy access for bankers and consumers to the
wealth of OCC information and guidance on Internet banking," said
Clifford A. Wilke, Director of Bank Technology at the OCC.  "In
particular, we want to share safe and sound Internet banking
practices with bankers interested in this line of business."

The OCC Internet banking Web site contains OCC guidance for
national banks on Internet banking dating back to 1996.  The new
site provides information on how to establish an Internet bank
and OCC decisions on Internet bank charters. 

The site contains all the safety and soundness guidance issued by
the OCC on Internet bank activities.  This ranges from guidance
on digital certification, to cyberterrorism and technology risk
in general.  The most comprehensive piece of guidance, the OCC
Handbook on Internet Banking of October 1999, is on the site.  In
addition, the site includes information on OCC legal rulings on
permissible activities, including Internet and PC banking,
electronic commerce, electronic payments, Internet access and
other related activities. 

The OCC has undertaken research on the growth of Internet banking
which is contained in a research and analysis section on the new
Web site.  Future OCC studies on Internet banking will also be
found on the Web site.    

The Internet web site can be reached by direct link from the
OCC's Web site at www.occ.treas.gov.
                                    
                                 
The OCC charters, regulates and examines approximately 2,400 
national banks and 59 federal branches and agencies of foreign 
banks in the United States, accounting for 57 percent of the 
nation's banking assets.  Its mission is to ensure a safe, 
sound and competitive national banking system that supports the
citizens, communities and economy of the United States.