Online banking – This is a life saver. I can pay my bills from home or the office at 7:00 in the morning or 11:00 at night. It also lets me see all my transactions everyday, so I always know what is in my account. The rare cheque that I write is scanned (front and back) so I can see online who it was to and for how much. In addition to have this information readily available to me, it helps me be aware right away if any fraud is committed on my account. By looking at my account a few times a week, I actually protect myself from fraud and would be able to spot something wrong right away.
Cheques – I rarely use cheques, and most Canadians have dropped to using less than one cheque per month. They can take days to weeks to come through the account and a lot of fraud happens with cheques. I tend to avoid them because of this and use debit cards because they are so immediate.
Online calculators – I use online calculators all the time. I use them to look at borrowing costs, retirement savings, and education savings. There are many very good calculators out there, including on our website.
Protect your PIN – I can’t stress this enough. If a thief has your debit card but does not know your PIN, then the card is useless to him. We deal with people who have money taken out of their account all the time because they have written their PIN on the card itself or keep it in their wallet/purse, or they have a told a friend or child what the Pin is. Most common cases of theft from an account by debit card happen with a friend or family member. And now the chip card credit cards use PINs as well instead of signatures to help prevent fraud. Protect your PIN, and make it hard to guess (no 1111’s, or 1234’s).
Automated deposit – My family receives the child tax credit every month. We sent the government a voided cheque years ago so that they would automatically deposit it into our account. We never worry about it arriving late, or that bad weather may prevent us from depositing it for a day or two. It’s a great time saver and save the government money as ell.
I also try to avoid overdraft fees and credit card interest so that I can keep my costs lower every month.
The above are conveniences that I like a lot. Feel free to share your own tips for making banking convenient.
I completely agree with the automatic deposits. They are so quick and I don't even have to think about them. I wanted to mention that I carry cash for small purchases, but I have found myself using my debit card more and more for almost everything. Incredibly convenient and fast. I have gotten to the point where I actually hate standing in line behind someone who pulls out their checkbook to write a check. that was me only a few year ago, but it seems so slow now.
ReplyDelete