Internet banks are regulated, but the method of regulation depends on the type of bank.

A bank chartered in the United States may be regulated by any one of several agencies. According to the U.S. Federal Reserve, which regulates banks, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) monitors both Internet banks that operate as offshoots of regular banks and banking sites that operate only through the Internet.

In addition, Internet banks that are considered thrift institutions are regulated by the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), and national banks are regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). For the most part, regardless of whether they are Internet only or not, Internet banks that originate in the United States are not regulated much differently than banks without an Internet banking presence.

Offshore Internet banks, those outside the United States, are usually regulated by their home countries, with the quality of regulation monitored by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, because the IMF is a supranational organization that crosses national boundaries, it possesses little control over the actual regulation of these banks. The quality of regulation is heavily dependent on the country from which the Internet bank originates, with some countries choosing to have light regulations.

Since September 11, 2001, however,  bank reporting requirements, in addition to money laundering monitoring, have been tightened in a number of jurisdictions in order to help increase the transparency and regulation of offshore Internet banks, among other entities.