Managing Your Accounts Online
When you sign up for online banking, you designate which accounts you wish to access online. Then you will be issued a user ID and temporary password via regular mail, e-mail or both, with instructions on how to use them to access the secure online banking portion of your bank's site where your account information is available 24/7.
Many banks require you to change your password during your initial visit for added security. These site "keys" are the only way to access your accounts online, so keep them in a safe place.
Once inside your private site, you will have access to all of the accounts that you have registered for online banking. You can easily view your current balances, recent deposits and payments, complete account history, and, in the case of securities, how your stocks, bonds and mutual funds performed over a given period, as well as current market value.
Most sites have a financial summary page that lists all registered accounts, so you can quickly glimpse your total assets and net worth. You may also sort your holdings by asset class, a feature that often comes with handy asset allocation pie charts that give you a quick snapshot of your current portfolio diversification.
Transfer money
If you elected to do so at signup, you can easily transfer money from one bank account to another by using the transfer function: you designate the transfer amount, from and to accounts, and when you want the transaction to occur, i.e. now or on a future date. The site will prompt you to confirm what you've entered. It may also warn you to click the final submit button only once; otherwise, you may trigger a double transfer.
It's a good idea to print out your transfer receipt page and keep it with your account records until you see online that it has cleared or it is reflected on your bank statement. Many sites also offer an array of transfer tools that allow you to set or change recurring transfers, check the status of a transfer, cancel a pending transfer and receive a transfer alert via e-mail when the transfer clears.
Use this function to:
- Transfer money between accounts within your bank
- Make a payment on a loan from your bank
- Take an advance on your bank credit line
- Wire money to your account at another bank
- Transfer money from your account at another bank to your account within the bank.
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Trade securities
If you signed a trading authorization form, you and also your agent also can use the site to purchase, redeem or exchange equity shares through the bank's securities subsidiary.
Use this function to:
- Purchase additional shares of a bank fund by transferring money from an account
- Redeem fund shares via transfer into a deposit account
- Exchange shares between fund accounts, including IRAs
- Transfer between a brokerage account and a secondary linked account.
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Account posting
Most internal online transfers, including those between deposit accounts, brokerage accounts, payments from deposit account to loan accounts and credit-line advances, post when requested and both accounts are immediately updated. Transfers into your accounts at other banks typically post within 2-3 days.
Alerts
For peace of mind, you may want to take advantage of your site's Web alert options. This instructs your bank to notify you via e-mail, wireless device and also on your private banking site when a particular event occurs.
Alerts can help you better manage your accounts by raising a flag when:
- An account balance rises above or drops below a certain amount
- A CD is about to expire
- A check clears
- An account becomes overdrawn
- The next-to-last recurring transfer occurs
- A transfer fails
- A new statement is available
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