Banking: Conclusion

Let's recap what we've covered in this tutorial:

• Banks provide security and convenience for managing your money and sometimes allow you to make money by earning interest. Convenience and fees are two of the most important things to consider when choosing a bank.
• Writing and depositing checks are perhaps the most fundamental ways to move money in and out of a checking account, but advancements in technology have added ATM and debit card transactions, ACH transfers, online bill pay and mobile transfers to the mix.
• All banks have rules about how long it takes to access your deposits, how many debit card transactions you're allowed in a day, and how much cash you can withdraw from an ATM. Access to the balance in your checking account can also be limited by businesses such as gas stations and hotels that place holds on your funds when you pay with a debit card.
• Debit cards provide easy access to the cash in your account, but can cause you to rack up fees if you overdraw your account or visit out-of-network ATMs.
• While debit cards encourage more responsible spending than credit cards, they do not offer the same protection or perks.
• Regularly balancing your checkbook or developing another method to stay on top of your account balance is essential to successfully managing your checking account and avoiding fees, declined transactions and bounced payments.
• If you have more money than you need to manage your day-to-day expenses, banks offer a variety of options for saving, including money market accounts, CDs, high-interest online savings accounts and basic savings accounts.
• To protect your money from electronic theft, identity theft and other forms of fraud, it's important to implement basic precautions such as shredding account statements, having complex passwords, safeguarding your PIN and only conducting online and mobile banking through secure internet connections.