214 National Financial Literacy Month - Day 7 - Banking & You

Banking is important because as employees and or entrepreneurs, you need a place to put your money. Once while working in support of the Governor of Maryland on a financial working group, we were tasked with assisting immigrants that live and work in the state of Maryland.

Many of the immigrants had never had a bank account, so we ensured we provided oversight for them to open a bank account. Some of the immigrants didn't have a bank account in the country they left, they simply didn't trust putting their hard-earned money in a bank. 

Banks include credit unions and thrifts. A bank is a business that offers you a safe place to keep your money and uses your deposits to make loans. This business is also called a financial institution. 

Many people keep their money in banks. Let’s take a look at some reasons why you might want to keep your money in a bank. 

• Safety – Money is safe from theft, loss, and fire. 

• Convenience – You can get money quickly and easily. Using direct deposit, for example, saves you time and allows you quicker access to your money. Funds that are electronically deposited in your account are available sooner than if you deposited a check. We will talk more about direct deposit later.

 • Cost – Using a bank is probably cheaper than using other businesses to cash your check. 

• Security – The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insures deposits up to the maximum amount allowed by law. This means that if for some reason a bank closes and cannot give its customers the money they had in the bank, the FDIC will return the money to the customers.

Opening and maintaining a bank account is not as difficult as you might think. There are four basic things you have to do: 

• Open the account and go through account verification.

 • Make deposits and withdrawals.

 • Record interest and fees. 

• Keep track of your balance. 

Banks provide additional services with some deposit accounts. Some banks charge a fee for these services. It is important to keep track of the fees charged if any. 

The following are common services that banks offer:

• Direct deposit 

• Money order 

• Telephone and online banking 

• Automated Teller Machine (ATM) 

• Money transfer 

• Debit card 

• Stored value cards 

• Loans

Get to know these important bank employees: 

• Customer service representative 

• Teller 

• Loan officer 

• Branch manager

Banking is important because it is not wise to walk around with large amounts of cash on your person. Neither is it wish to have large amounts of money at your house. The bottom line is this if you plan on purchasing a house, car, and or investing in a business you will need a bank account, thus the relationships you have with your bank is very important. 

Learn about Paul Lawrence Vann's virtual Financial Fitness course, it is being offered at a 50% discount throughout the month of April, National Financial Literacy Month, here is the link:  https://bit.ly/3dbperG