Digital banking allows you to manage your account and finances from any mobile device, such as your tablet, smartphone, or laptop. It allows you to check account balances, transfer funds, pay bills, make mobile deposits, and invest. Digital banking is becoming increasingly popular, as it offers a number of benefits over traditional brick-and-mortar banking. Technology allows banking to be easier and more user-friendly and convenient.
In this blog, we'll take a look at one of the added benefits of digital banking. One of those is the ability to budget your money better through tools within your credit union or bank’s mobile app or website. You can also find great resources for budgeting through other online resources.
Benefits of Digital Banking
The popularity of digital banking has increased over the past few years, and will continue to increase, and for good reasons. There are many benefits to digital banking, including:
- Convenience: Digital banking allows you to conduct banking transactions from anywhere, anytime. This is especially convenient if you have a busy schedule, work long hours, live in a rural area, or travel often.
- Efficiency: Digital banking is often more efficient than traditional banking. For example, you can typically transfer funds between accounts or pay bills in just a few clicks. Instead of driving in your car and walking into a physical bank, you can do your banking from your couch, a hotel room, your vehicle, or any other place you may be.
- Security: Digital banking is just as secure as traditional banking. This is because financial institutions use sophisticated security measures to protect your personal and financial information. Your mobile app or online login will ask you to verify your identity in multiple ways, such as two-factor or biometric authentication.
- Cost savings: Digital banking can save you money on fees. For example, many banks waive ATM fees for customers who use their mobile app to withdraw cash. It also saves you the cost of gas by not driving to a branch.
- Environmentally friendly: Digital banking reduces the need for paper and other physical materials, which can help to protect the environment.
Budgeting Tools in Digital Banking
Budgeting is an essential aspect of managing your finances, regardless of your income level. It helps you to keep track of your spending, set financial goals, and make informed decisions about your money. Without a budget, it can be challenging to manage your finances effectively, and you may find yourself overspending or struggling to save money.
Fortunately, the rise of digital banking has made budgeting easier than ever before. Many digital banking platforms offer free budgeting tools that can help you track your spending and stay on budget. These tools typically include features such as account aggregation, categorization, and notifications, which allow you to monitor your spending and identify areas where you can cut back.
These tools typically include features such as:
- Account aggregation: This allows you to see all of your financial accounts in one place, which makes it easier to track your spending. You can add multiple bank accounts, credit cards, and investment accounts, even if they’re from different banks or credit unions. When you can visualize your money right in the palm of your hands, it becomes easier to know where you need to cut back on spending and set goals within each account.
- Categorization: This allows you to categorize your spending, which can help you identify areas where you can cut back. Some mobile banking apps allow you to budget within the app, so you can see what you’re spending and what goals you’ve set all in one place. For instance, with Leaders Credit Union’s mobile app, you can use our Money Management tool to create easy-to-read charts and send an email and text alerts to yourself.
- Notifications: This allows you to set alerts for when you reach certain spending thresholds or when a bill is due. It also allows you to be notified if someone unauthorized might be using your account.
- Check your credit score: In addition to paying any credit card bills, you can also check your credit score within the app to monitor your financial health.
Digital banking budgeting tools offer a range of features that can help you manage your finances more effectively. If you’re looking to take control of your finances, consider using a digital banking platform with budgeting tools to help you achieve your goals.
How to Improve Your Digital Banking
Digital banking is simple, easy to use, and keeps your accounts secure, but there are a few areas where you can improve your digital financial management.
- Set up two-factor authentication: This adds an extra layer of security to your account. Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a security process that requires users to provide two different authentication factors to verify themselves. This means that in addition to providing their username and password, users must also provide a second factor, such as a code generated by an app on their phone, a fingerprint scan, or a security key.
- Review your transactions regularly: If you download the mobile app, checking your transactions frequently is simple and it can help you catch unauthorized transactions.
- Keep your software up to date: Pay attention to app and software updates for your device because this will help protect your account from security vulnerabilities. It is best to set your mobile app to perform automatic updates.
- Use strong passwords: Create passwords that are unique to your account and remember to change them frequently. This might include a password that is longer, has uppercase and lowercase letters, and includes symbols and numbers.
- Consider using a budgeting app: There are many budgeting apps available that can help you track your spending and stay on budget, such as Mint, EveryDollar, and so many more. Some mobile banking apps, like the Leaders app, even have budgeting built into the app.
- Automate your finances: You can automate your finances by setting up recurring transfers or payments. Setting up automated transfer into your savings can help you stay on top of your savings goals because it eliminates the possibility of you forgetting to manually transfer money. You can find this feature in the Leaders app!
- Bill pay: Take advantage of in-app or digital bill pay where you can set up automatic payments and pay bills without having to write a physical check. This can also be found in the Leaders app.
Take Advantage of Mobile Banking
Digital banking is a convenient, efficient, and secure way to manage your finances. If you're not already using digital banking, check out your credit union or bank’s resources to get started today. You may be surprised at how much you enjoy it, how it makes your personal financial management easier, and helps your budget stay on target.
Are you ready to take advantage of online banking? You can sign up with ease with the help of our online banking quick start kit. Our step-by-step guide walks you through the sign-up process so you can start managing your money anytime, anywhere.
