One of my favorite banking tools is “account alerts.” These are e-mail or text messages from your bank and credit card companies with updated account information. Account alerts are an easy and effective way to monitor your accounts for fraudulent activity, to avoid bouncing checks, and to keep track of your account balance.
Alerts tell you when:
- A transaction over a certain dollar amount has occurred
- A specific check has cleared
- Your account balance falls below a specified amount
- International purchases have been charged to your credit card
- Your credit card payment is due or has been processed
- Your password, user ID, or contact information have been changed
These are just a few of the notifications you can receive.
To use account alerts, first you need to sign up for online banking at your bank’s website. Once you are on line, go to the customer service area. Look for “account alerts,” “manage alerts,” or similar. If you would like to receive alerts by text message, you will need to register your mobile phone number. Once in the account alerts section of the website, you choose which alerts you would like and how you would like to receive them.
Like any on line financial activity, there is always a security risk. On line banking with an FDIC insured bank, however, is less risky. Consumer protection laws limit your liability for unauthorized activity. And, to quote Consumer Reports, “banking-system security is as good as it gets, because these core institutions of the economy are themselves on the hook for the fraud losses.”*
To me the risk is worthwhile. I like knowing when a large sum of money has left my bank account shortly after the transaction occurred. I don’t have to log in to see; the information comes directly to me.
Do you use account alerts? What other banking tools have you found helpful?
*Consumer Reports Money Advisor, April 2014