These days you no longer need to make a trip to the bank to deal with your money, or the credit union, for that matter. You can pretty much do everything online. While managing your money online does come with some risks, it is also the ideal way to do things in this busy world of today. Who has time for a weekly stop at the bank?
The most important thing to remember when it comes to your money management safety online is that you should only do your banking over your own network on your own computer. Banks and credit unions have safe servers so that you can feel protected when you bank online.
Checking Your Accounts and Transferring Money
Your bank may not be the only place you deal with money. If you do any kind of online work or sales you may find yourself using something like Paypal. Paypal allows you to get a debit card to access your money, or you can transfer it right to your bank. You can do this online or from an app on your phone. In fact, these days, some stores let you pay using Paypal without access to one of their debit cards!
Most banks and credit unions also have apps for your phones and tablets now that let you check your account from wherever you are, which is a great way to keep yourself from overdrafting your checking account.
Automatic Bill Payments
Many billing companies now allow you to set up automatic bill payments so that you no longer have to worry about writing out checks to pay your bills. Sure, you can pay with a credit card or debit card online, but there are always some risks with that, so automatic deductions can be a great way to avoid fraud.
You still need to remember to subtract your payments out of your check register though, but if you check your account online often it’s easy to catch when a payment you may have forgotten comes out.
Staying Old Fashioned, Maybe
Shockingly, many banks now allow you to take a photo of a check in order to deposit it. No signing, no trip to the back, just a quick snapshot with your phone. Some people still prefer the old-fashioned way though. According to Cheap Computer Checks, paper checks can help you keep better track of your transactions.
Before you start writing out checks at your favorite stores though, make sure they still take them. If they do there’s also a good chance that you won’t have to fill it out. Many places now just scan the check and you sign on their machine like you do with credit cards.
Hopefully you now have a better grasp of all the ways the internet can help you with your money management and keep you from spending money you don’t actually have.
