Personal banking is changing, and it is important to stay on top of these changes or you may find that you are paying unnecessary charges or that you are not getting all the benefits available. So if you have not already gone online, go and open a bank account online today.
You may be wondering why you need an online bank account. The answer is that you will be financially better off with one. With the world quickly moving away from paper into virtual currency, it’s essential that your banking keep up as well.
Here are our top three reasons why you should get online banking today:
Reason 1: You should be in control
You need to get the benefits of making instant payments and being in control of your money. The time when we could trust our local bank manager to act in our best interests is over. Most of us don’t even know the name of the manager in our local branch.
Utilities and services to which you subscribe are always quick to charge if anything is late, so to avoid these you need to be in control and to stay on top of your commitments. Banking online gives you immediate control over how quickly you are able to make payments and stay on time of the ins and outs of what is happening with your account.
Reason 2: The banks want you online
The banks need to use their call centers to their maximum efficiency. The banks set up, at great expense, large call centers when telephone banking was introduced. Telephone banking was a rousing success since many people continued to use retail branches, so now the banks have reallocated these centers to be support for online banking.
No one in the retail banking industry wants to be paying for this expensive infrastructure without them being used efficiently. So they want your account as they are already paying to support it.
Also, putting up new retail branches is super expensive. Look around. Have you noticed branches closing or being consolidated? That saves banks a hue expense. They have even gone as far as removing teller windows for more robust ATM machines inside the branches which allow you to make more transactions than normal ATM machines.
Reason 3: The banks will bribe you to sign up to their accounts
Originally only the big banks were offering online banking, now it is available to everyone. In fact it is often easier to open a bank account online than it is to actually go to a branch and complete the paperwork. This high level of competition means that each bank has to make its banking more appealing than the others. You will be offered everything from free home insurance, free personal financial advice or even free money to open a new account. I can’t be the only one who constantly receives offers from Chase with a $250 incentive to open a new account. The banks will offer whatever they can to get your business – you should take everything they are offering.
Not sure where to open your account? These days, just about every bank and credit union offers online banking. If you’re specifically looking for a high interest savings account my recommended banks are:
- Ally Bank
- Barclay
- Capital One 360
- HSBC Bank
One more added benefit of online banking? Turning alerts on so that you know instantly when debits and credits hit your bank account. It’s a great way to combat fraud and to also be on top of your funds.
So if you are still traipsing to your bank to make payments and being limited by their restrictive opening hours it is time that you took back control. Go and open a bank account online and start to reap the rewards which you are due.