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9009 West Loop South, Seventh Floor, Houston Texas
1-866-889-9347 |
CCCS of South Jersey
A Division of Money Management International |
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Regional Headquarters - 3073 English Creek Ave., Suite 3
Egg Harbor Township New Jersey |
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Being A Smart Consumer In The Age Of Automatic Banking |
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With new advances in electronics and communications technology, handling the details of our lives is becoming more and more convenient. We live in an age when we have easy access to our money through ATM machines, credit approvals take mere seconds, and we rarely have to set foot in our banks. In fact, with the capabilities of on-line computing, it is predicted that we will soon be able to handle all our banking from home.
One of the main advantages of electronic banking is the automatic payroll deposit. Every payday, your wages are deposited in your account automatically, relieving you of a trip to the bank. You have quicker access to your money than you would if you had to wait until after work to deposit your check and it requires no effort.
Some employers allow you to split your paycheck up among two or three accounts, which makes other conveniences possible as well. For example, if your weekly take-home pay is $300, and you can live on $225 a week, you can have the other $75 automatically deposited into a savings account. You’d be amazed at how quickly that account builds up.
Automatic drafts are a great way to set up many of your regular monthly bills, and the number of companies that will set up a draft, including insurance companies and utilities, is growing rapidly. In fact, for bills that never change month to month, have them drafted from your savings account and simply make sure you have enough money automatically deposited in that account every week.
This system allows you to pay your bills on time every month with little effort on your part. Also, some companies will give you a discount if you set up a monthly draft, because it reduces their billing costs. You must be very disciplined, though, about having enough money in the account when the draft is scheduled. Otherwise, the bank will treat it as a bounced check.
With all these conveniences, however, the need to keep track of your accounts accurately and make sure you’re in control increases. If you rarely open and never thoroughly read your monthly statement, you’re inviting trouble. While I strongly recommend balancing your checking account every month, at least read through the statement and make sure nothing seems out of the ordinary.
When you use these automatic conveniences, you are technically allowing a third party to have access to your account. And while there are usually security measures in place, they are never perfect.
For example, have you ever tried to withdraw cash at an ATM machine and had the computer shut down in the middle of the transaction, leaving you without the cash? If you don’t check your statement – and actually, I’d recommend calling the bank as soon as possible – you run the risk of having that withdrawal recorded in your account anyway. And that could put you at risk of bouncing checks.
Also, companies that take automatic drafts occasionally raise their rates, and if you miss the notice mailed to you, it can foul up your entire account. Or if your employer somehow makes a mistake and never deposits your paycheck, you wouldn’t find out until you’ve bounced several checks.
Again, the best way to protect yourself is to keep track of your money by balancing your checkbook regularly. If you do, automatic banking features can save you a lot of time and money.
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CCCS, A Division of Money Management International
Regional Headquarters - 3073 English Creek Ave., Suite 3, Egg Harbor Township New Jersey
Corporate Address - 9009 West Loop South, Seventh Floor, Houston, TX 77096
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