Banking Advice – The News Desk

7Nov

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Money

How to Balance a Checkbook

These days many of us write few, if any, checks. So, the term "balancing a checkbook" has taken on a new meaning. Simply put, balancing your checkbook involves making sure your records for your checking account match the bank's records.For instance, the bank's records for your checking account may show a $50 debit card purchase at a grocery store, but that transaction doesn't appear in your own records. In this case, the $50 purchase might have been fraudulent, so balancing your checkbook enables you to detect this transaction and report it to your bank.Here, we explain why you should balance your checkbook and walk you through the steps for doing it.Why You Should Balance Your CheckbookBalancing your checkbook, also called reconciling your account, may feel like a chore. But it's a chore...

How to Load Your Walmart MoneyCard | Banking Advice

27Oct

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Money

How to Load Your Walmart MoneyCard | Banking Advice

The Walmart MoneyCard is a reloadable prepaid card that allows those without traditional checking accounts to spend and manage their money. It's available as Visa or Mastercard, making it easy to use just about anywhere. The MoneyCard also awards cash back on certain purchases.So how do you load funds onto a Walmart MoneyCard? There are a few ways to do it. Here's what you need to know.What Is the Walmart MoneyCard?The Walmart MoneyCard is a prepaid debit card issued by Walmart in partnership with Green Dot, a banking and financial technology company. It's designed to offer an alternative to a traditional checking account.Since it's a prepaid card, you need to load money onto the card before you can use it. Once funded, the card can be used for online shopping and in-store purchases where...

18Oct

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Money

How to Cash a Check | Banking Advice

Not that long ago, Americans had one primary way to cash checks – at their bank or credit union. Today, we enjoy many check-cashing options, including mobile apps and retail stores.Trying to decide where to cash a check? Read this guide on how to cash a check, including information about the fees you might end up paying.Cashing a Check at Your Own BankHere's what to consider when cashing a check at your own bank: Your bank or credit union typically lets you cash a check at a branch, at an ATM or through a mobile app. But if you're depositing a check at an ATM or through a mobile app, you might not get the entire amount of the check right away, depending on your financial institution's policies and the amount of the check. The first $225 typically is available immediately or in one busine...

What Should I Keep in a Safe Deposit Box?

13Oct

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Money

What Should I Keep in a Safe Deposit Box?

A safe deposit box is a well-secured storage box housed at your banking institution. Think of it as your own private bank vault. You can use a safe deposit box to store valuable items, important paperwork or other items you want to keep private and secure.In the age of cloud storage and digital record-keeping, a safe deposit box may seem like a relic from another era. But a safe deposit box can make sense if you need secure storage away from home.Considering opening a safe deposit box? Here's what to know.What's a Safe Deposit Box?A safe deposit box is a small, secure container housed at a bank. The boxes can range in size from 2 inches high by 5 inches wide, to 10 inches high by 15 inches wide or even larger. Rental prices vary according to the bank and box size, but generally start arou...

30Sep

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Money

Where Should You Order Checks?

With the rise of peer-to-peer payment systems such as PayPal, Venmo, Zelle and several others, there's rarely a need to write a check these days.Even so, checks aren't completely extinct yet. According to the Federal Reserve, about 11 billion checks were written in the U.S. in 2021. Maybe your landlord still prefers to receive rent payments the old-fashioned way. Perhaps you run a small business that handles many transactions in the form of checks. In any case, when your checkbook runs out, you might wonder how to get a new set without paying $30 or more. The good news is there are a variety of ways to order checks at a low cost – maybe even for free.Banks and Credit UnionsTypically, you'll find an order form for more checks within your checkbook. However, ordering checks through your ban...

Savings Interest Rate Forecast | Banking Advice

25Sep

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Money

Savings Interest Rate Forecast | Banking Advice

Higher interest rates mean borrowing becomes more expensive. But on the flip side, your savings account can earn more. Interest rates have increased throughout 2023 and aren't likely to come down until 2024. See what that means for your savings account and learn how you can capitalize on a high interest rate.What Savings Interest Rates Have Done in 2023We've only seen savings rates go up in 2023. The Federal Reserve has increased interest rates to fight rising inflation since March 2022, with four rate hikes so far this year. We came into 2023 with a 4.25% to 4.5% federal funds rate. The current interest rate range is 5.25% to 5.5%. As the Federal Reserve increases interest rates, the rates for mortgages, personal loans, credit cards and savings accounts increase. The Federal Deposit Insu...

22Sep

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Money

5 Benefits of Having a Savings Account

When people talk about investing, they're often referring to stocks, bonds, real estate, precious metals or foreign currency. Those investment vehicles can offer a nice long-term return on your money, but they come with disadvantages – risk, high minimum amounts and lack of easy access to your money.On the other side of the spectrum is the humble savings account. It's not glamorous. In fact, it's pretty boring — so boring that many people don't even qualify it as an investment, though like any other investment, it's a method of putting aside money for the future in order to create or preserve wealth. And it is an investment option that takes care of virtually every problem mentioned above.Many people overlook savings accounts because of the low returns that you can expect compared with th...

21Sep

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Money

How to Get Overdraft Fees Waived

If you don't keep a close watch on your checking account balance, making a debit purchase or writing a check without enough funds in your account to cover it could end up costing you. The average overdraft fee hovers around $35, and your bank could charge you multiple fees in one day. It's bound to happen to you at some point. Maybe a deposit you were waiting on didn't clear as quickly as you expected, or you simply weren't paying attention to your balance. Everyone makes mistakes once in a while, but is there anything you can do to reverse the charge?What Is an Overdraft?The available balance in your checking account is essentially a spending limit; you're not supposed to spend more than what you currently have on deposit. "An overdraft occurs when you try to withdraw more money than wha...

20Sep

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Money

10 Facts About Credit Unions

If you're looking for a new place for your checking and savings accounts, don't limit your search to banks. You may discover credit unions have more to offer than you think.Credit unions are not-for-profit organizations that operate on a philosophy of people helping people, says Christopher Roe, senior vice president for TruStage, a provider of insurance, investment and financial technology solutions for credit unions. Unlike banks, which are publicly owned by stockholders, credit unions are cooperatives and member-owned."I think a lot of people feel that credit unions are smaller because they are more member-focused, but credit unions can be just as powerful as banks," says Jay Ferrans, president of JM Financial & Accounting Services in Southfield, Michigan.It's a common misconceptio...

13Sep

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Money

What Is Netspend?

Some consumers are not able to open a checking account at a bank or credit union to pay their bills or purchase groceries or other items and are forced to rely on using prepaid debit cards. In 2021, there were more than 5.9 million unbanked households in the U.S., according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.One option is to use a reloadable prepaid debit card issued by Netspend, which gives consumers the ability to conduct transactions just like a bank debit card and could be a better option than using a check cashing service.A Netspend prepaid card can serve as a bank account alternative for some consumers, including ones who had trouble managing bank accounts in the past, perhaps incurring many overdrafts, says Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at Bankrate.com."Banks share this i...