KEEPING A SOLID RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR BANK
Sustaining a positive relationship with your bank is just as
vital as selecting the one to do business with. Below is some
input that will help make your dealings proceed efficiently.
Online banking
These method of banking allows a faster, more simplified use and
management of your checking account. No longer do you have to
wait for your monthly statement in order to see if a check has
cleared. Now you can simply log-in to your account online and
view all of your transactions.
There are many more benefits of
banking online including paying
bills, transferring money and setting-up email alerts to inform you
when checks clear or if your account balance dips below a
certain amount.
Protecting yourself
Many people are leery about utilizing the Internet for their
banking. However, as long as you are careful about how you use
and store your usernames and passwords, you will be fine. It is
also important to be careful about how you handle supposed
emails from your bank. Never click on any links in any email
that asks for any of your personal information. Call you bank
first and make sure that the email is genuine. The smartest
method of opening your bank's website is by typing their web
address into the browser, not by clicking on a link.
It is very important that you review your
monthly statements to ensure that your records coincide with your
banks. You want to catch any discrepancies as soon as
possible so that they can be corrected. Also, make sure you look
for unauthorized transactions. This may be a sign that you are a
victim of identity theft.
Financial institutions have a lot of personal information about
all of our their customers. A great deal of money is made by
selling your information to other companies. You can avoid be
solicited by contacting your bank and 'opting out' of having
your information sold to other companies. You can likely find
information about how your bank intends on using your personal
information on what you can do to avoid this in your monthly
statements.
The Patriot Act
As a result of terrorism, all financial institutions are
being held to higher standards in regards to confirming the
identity of all individuals that open new accounts. You will
probably have to show proof of identity and will likely have to
answer questions related to where the money is coming from to
open the account. For additional info, read more about the
Patriot Act.
What assets are protected?
Nowadays, the difference between banks,
brokerages and insurance companies, is not as clear as it once
was. The most important thing to determine is what accounts are
insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and which
accounts are not. For more information, read more about the
FDIC
and how accounts are insured.
As long as your bank practices positive
financial management, you likely won't every have to count on
FDIC coverage. When opening a new account, it is important
find out if your bank is safe by getting the answers to a few vital questions about your bank and
how it conducts it business. It is also a good idea to
periodically review your bank activity.
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