With everything going on in our busy lives, banking should be the least of our worries. It can be a little daunting when you first create a new bank account for the first time, but there is no need to worry! To help you get started, here are a few tips and tricks to help simplify and make saving money a breeze!
Our priority is to help our readers save money any way that we can! These Great Tips to Know have been compiled and created either to help reduce your costs or strengthen your income, to make sure you know all the Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Bank!
Choosing a Banking Institution
Look for Signup Promotions: Most banks offer a promotion that will allow you to get rewarded for choosing to create an account with that banking institution. They typically have minimum requirements to be eligible, such as direct deposit, enrolling in eStatements, or a minimum amount of debit card transactions per month. If you were planning on using those features anyway, the reward would just be an added bonus! What are you waiting for? Take advantage of these Bank Bonuses and Deals while you still can!
Check their Rates: I highly recommend that you take the time to read though the different rates that different banking institutions provide, as you’ll be dealing with these banks for a long time. You’ll want to make the most of your time by making sure you get the best interest rates to maximize the growth on your savings accounts. To make things simple, we’ve created a table of the Best Savings Rates for you to view all the latest bank deals with ease!
Credit Union vs. Banks: A credit union is different from a bank, because every member becomes a shareholder as well as a member of that institution. The advantages of being in a Credit Union is that they typically have more amenities and features, such as exclusive discounts, private events, higher rates, and much more! The disadvantage is that their membership eligibility is much more limited than that of a bank, but there are plenty of credit unions with loose restrictions. If you are interested in joining a credit union, be sure to check out our complete list of Credit Unions That Anyone Can Join.
FDIC and NCUA Insured: Be sure that your money is safe by first checking if the bank is insured. Typically the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or the National Credit Union Association covers most banking institutions. This is to help ease the customers, if anything bad were to happen to the bank, your money would still be safe. To learn more about the difference, check out our comparison of NCUA vs FDIC.
Reducing Bank Fees
First and foremost, the best way to save money is to reduce the amount of fees you’re playing your banking institution. Individually, they don’t come out to a lot, but over time they begin to pile up and can cause a significant dent in your bank account! Here is a list of the most important fees you’ll probably run into:
Overdraft Fees: Overdraft fees are the result of using your debit card too much. If you have insufficient funds for a purchase, they will allow the transaction to go through, but they will also charge around a $35 fee for exceeding your balance.
ATM Fees: This is one of the easiest fees to avoid. The only way to avoid these fees is to use ATMs or go to banks affiliated with your bank. This is the advantage of the larger national banks, but credit unions have also figured out a way around this by creating an ATM network that eliminates these fees as well, but sure to know the systems and locations of your bank!
Online Banking and eStatements: This is another easy fee to avoid, all you have to do is enroll in eStatements/Paperless statements to receive all your information electronically. It may be a couple dollars, but like the other fees, they begin to pile up, when you could’ve saved it all. You can always print a copy out yourself if you urgently need it as well.
These are just a fraction of all the fees you could possible run into at a bank, and if you’re looking for more information about more ways to reduce these fees, we also have an extended and more extensive list on Ways to Avoid Excessive Bank Changes if you are interested.
Technology
Setting up account alerts: A lot of banks offer this feature, and this is used to send an alert to your message your email in the case you miss a bill, or to send you a warning in case you are dangerously low on funds. This can be used to avoid fees like overdraft fees, so you have the ability to transfer the funds into the account instead of being rejected, or charged again.
Online banking and Online Bill Pay: These tools are used to make things more accessible to the customer. Instead of taking an extra trip to the bank, you are able to transfer your funds, pay your bills, and even create new accounts from the comfort of your own house.
Mobile Banking (Tracking tools like Mint): Not only do applications like Mint give you the ability to constantly monitor your account, but other features such as budgeting. It automatically gives you a suggested idea of what you should be spending every month, and trends so that you can assess your strengths and weaknesses. Not only will this help you make the most of your account, it will also provide you will great life skills that will prove to be useful in the future.
In an world that prioritizes technology and efficiency, it’s important to stay up to date on all the latest technology to help you save as much as possible. With all these features at your disposal, it makes keeping track of your money accessible everywhere, so you’ll never have another penny unaccounted for!
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Bottom Line
Follow all these Great Tips to Know, and you should be well on your way to amassing your own personal fortune! Take advantage of all these features and Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Bank to take control of your financial life today! If you are looking for tips on taking control of your newly opened account, here are some Best Ways to Manage Your Checking Account!
Or if you’re interested in all of the ways to save those few dollars on bank fees, check out our tips on avoiding Bank Overdraft Protection & Fees. There are many great banks out there, so find the one the best suits you! Be sure to check out our expansive list of the Best Bank Bonuses to find out about any bank promotions near you!
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