Managing your finances is the single most challenging and complex aspect of modern adulthood. The simple act of balancing your income and expenses can be a time-consuming practice. It's important to keep track of your bills, groceries, expenses, subscriptions, and incidental purchases. You probably want a little savings or debt repayment at the end of the month. You may be saving for a specific goal or trying to keep certain expenses under control. We are all wrapped up in the constant work of money management. Thank goodness we have tech, like receiving texts from your bank, because it used to be even more time-consuming.
Imagine the years before electronic transaction logs when people still had to balance their checkbooks hands. People used to comb through carbon copies of their checks to make sure checks written didn't exceed the money in the bank. We used to keep paper receipts to have a record of expenses and bills paid. Now, we have mobile apps and web portals that do all that for us, and banking is only getting easier for the new generations. Today, you can even receive texts from your bank making mobile and online banking even easier.
Receiving Texts From Your Bank and Money Management
For those of us who text all the time, texting with your bank lets you manage finances on the fly. You don't even have to load up a new app to check your balance or make quick money decisions with your bank accounts. But you don't have to stop at the basics. Let's dive into why and how to benefit from texting with your bank.
1. Check Your Account Balance
The first and most obvious benefit is quickly checking your balance. With a few quick flicks of the thumb, you can have your bank balance in an instant, at any time. Knowing that balance at all times is how you stay above the red line. For young people living fast and free, knowing your bank balance can tell you what decisions to make in an evening. For careful professionals making future plans, your balance tells you whether the paycheck has hit or your automated bills have paid themselves yet.
If you have multiple accounts and cards, you can also quickly get information on each individual account. You may want to check your credit card balance instead of your checking account or keep an eye on how your savings are growing over time. These are all easy with a quick text to your bank's automatic SMS system.
2. Make Quick Transfers
Sometimes, you need to quickly transfer money from one account to the next. You might move some money from checking to your credit card or send money to a friend in need. In this moment, the last thing you need is a delayed or complicated transfer procedure. SMS bank transfers are quick and easy as long as the two accounts are already set up and approved for transfers in the SMS system. You can also potentially register and establish a new transfer in less time than it would take to get on the phone and talk it out with your bank.
When you need to transfer money fast, you won't have to find a computer or call the bank. You can simply initiate the transfer through an SMS text message and confirm with a pin number or password.
Why Get Texts From Your Bank
Should you be receiving texts from your credit union? With today's tech, we should have constant access to our bank accounts. Read on to learn more.
3. Two-Factor Account Protection With Texts From Your Bank
Speaking of passwords, SMS is the ideal two-factor authentication method. A hacker might steal your password, but it's highly unlikely that they also have your phone. Texting with your bank makes it possible to confirm logins, transfers, and updated account information without complicated Captcha routines or an ever-deeper layering of passwords.
4. Payment Reminders and Confirmations
If you've ever forgotten to pay a bill or make sure a payment went through, then SMS banking might be your answer. Text messaging makes it possible to send reminders directly to your phone about when it's time to pay something manually. The bank can also send you updates when automatic bills pay themselves and when expected charges are processed. This can help you to be more aware of your money and spend more wisely as a result.
5. Timely Low Balance Alerts
Low balance alerts can save you stress and hundreds of dollars on cumulative fees. No one likes to go into the red, even temporarily, and a low balance alert can help you keep track even when your day and spending start to get away from you. Custom low balance alerts allow you to set up plenty of warnings. Have the bank send you a text when your bank account hits a 'halfway' or 'warning' balance, and you may never see a red number in your checking account again.
6. Loan Completion Tracking
Many of us have a loan worth tracking. Every month it gets paid off a little more. For homes and vehicles, that also means your equity goes up a little. It's enjoyable and informative to track loan completion. Doing so often feels like reaching your own private fundraising goal with the filling thermometer display. With SMS texting, you can get alerts to loan completion and also quickly check the status of your loan at any time.
7. Savings Goal Success Updates
Of course, paying off loans isn't the only financial goal we share. If you're like most people, then you also want to build up your savings. You might use a keep-the-change method or slush any unspent budget into your savings each pay period. When you reach certain savings goals, you should be alerted so you can celebrate. Texting with your bank means the bank can send you updates on your savings goals and even congratulations when those goals are met.
8. Account Activity Alerts
Finally, texts from the bank can tell you instantly if there is suspicious activity on your account. Someone uses your credit card to buy a pizza in Minneapolis? Someone just attempted to log in to your account from Houston? A quick text can ask you if these charges are valid so you can take account-defensive actions immediately. Shut down a hacker, flag the card, and have your day back on track the moment a suspicious charge or account activity occurs. Your life will be normal again within the hour instead of facing racked-up charges and months of hassle.
How to Receive Bank Texts
Receiving texts from your bank is easy to do because PrimeWay has streamlined the process. Banking from your phone to manage your finances is as easy as managing your friendships: through text.
Click here for a step-by-step tutorial on setting up your text alerts.