One of the models is where a bank uses the Internet as a shop window. Here, banks use the Internet to disseminate information about themselves and their products. There are banks elsewhere which use the Internet to offer interactive financial advice. For instance, Toronto Dominion Bank offers what is called "wealth allocation model", which allows customers to receive advice on asset-allocation.

Another Internet banking model is this: banks offer information on their non-banking activities. This helps the customer see what else a banks does beyond its bread-and-butter operations.

There is another model called "the exploding whale". Here, the banker uses his site to include information that has nothing to do with banking, but which might be of general interest.

For instance, Bank Austria offers a web page which offered opinions on Austria's membership in the European Union. Some banks use the Internet as e-commerce hubs. There are quite a few "virtual shopping malls" on the World Wide Web and some of them are run by banks. Barclaysquare, a site operated by BarclayCard, the largest visa-issuer in the United Kingdom is one of the pioneers here. The site includes info on shops selling books, wine and other products. As an extension, there are banks that use the Internet as a facilitator of payment transactions. Mark Twain Bank in USA is one of the pioneers here.

One popular Internet banking model uses the Net to distribute financial products. Using the Internet as a gateway is another model banks use. For instance, Credit Mutuel de Bretagne, a French bank, has a system called Citelis which allows customers dial the bank directly before routing their call out to the Internet and the bank gives its customers proprietary software.