Jim MooreWelcome back. Last week I suggested that online banking could offer useful ways to avoid contact with people in case of a flu outbreak. Well a recent survey found that many credit union members have found online banking is also helping them in the current financial crisis. Who knew!
The survey, by Forrester Consulting in behalf of Fiserv (a credit union supplier) found that virtually all (91%) consumers who use online banking find it critical for managing finances. The most valued were in being able to pay bills on the same day through online bill payment programs and getting alert notices for things like payment due dates and low balances – to avoid fees.
About a third (31%) of the respondents also wanted budgeting tools with their online banking access. And an increasing proportion (74%, up from 71% in October 2008) were paying more attention to their finances than in recent years.
Well, aren’t we all? And I find I am looking at my online account information more often – not daily, but several times a week. I look for key withdrawals, payments, or deposits, as well as checking my balances across all of my credit union accounts. And it keeps me sensitive to my day-to-day spending as well.
If this sounds like an approach that would be valuable to you, check with your FI* today to see what they offer in online banking and bill pay. It can be one more valuable part of your personal financial tool kit.
Now it’s your turn: Are you an online banking user? What is most important to you when you go online?
JM
*FI = Financial Institution
This post is based on a Credit Union National Association “news now” post, October 1, 2009
Filed under: online banking | Tagged: online banking, Online Bill Pay, automatic alerts, budgeting
I am an online banking user! I have been for as long as I can remember, well at least as long as online banking has been available. Online banking gives me the opportunity to monitor my financial status 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. I access my account several times a week (almost, but not quite, daily), and typically in under 5 minutes I know exactly what my status is for that day, and where my status is heading in the next few days.
I have discovered that it is easier to manage immediate financial situations a few days at a time, instead of waiting until the end of the month when the statement arrives, only to discover a problem that could have been avoided – “If I only knew”. I recall a Saturday when I accessed my account online, and noticed a check with a sequence number that was not even close to my other checks. Oddly, I also could not access the online image of this check. The amount was enough that my account would have gone negative the following Tuesday when an automatic bill was to be paid. I ran down to the local branch and asked one of the nice representatives if they could research this issue. I wasn’t actually expecting an immediate result, but she punched it up on her computer, entered some data, and then apologized for any inconvenience it may have caused me. I must have had a questionable look on my face, because she added “That check wasn’t yours and I have removed it.” Without the instant access to my account, I would not have discovered that problem until the end of the month. By then my account would have been overdrawn, insufficient funds notices sent out, bills unpaid, and businesses demanding bounced check fees. It would have taken me a lot more than a few minutes to straighten that mess out.
I also use online bill-pay. It is so convenient to set up an automatic payment and know the bill will be paid. However, I still check these whenever I access my account. I even use bill-pay for bills that have variable amounts, I just set the amount slightly higher than I expect the bill will ever be, and then when I get their statement, I just adjust the amount for that month. If the statement gets lost in the mail, or my computer is down (for online statements), the bill is still paid, but usually for a little more than the amount on the statement. The company will credit the overpayment to the next month’s bill. This also helps with budgeting since planning for a larger amount, then paying a lower actual amount, means you have a little bit of extra money left over. Hint – “Stash this Cash”. If you have a higher interest savings account that you can access online with all your other accounts, move this extra money into that account. Keep your budgeted money stable and your savings growing. It is just too easy to think “Ooo, we have extra money, let’s spend it.”