How To Maximize Your Digital Banking

As little as even 10 years ago, banking still primarily revolved around in-person experiences where you would need to make a quick trip to the local branch office to deposit even the smallest of checks. While many banking interactions still require a human touch, the advent of online banking, mobile banking, and other digital tools are yielding a new way of doing business.

And while heading to the local branch office to conduct your deposits and withdrawals makes a lot of sense for many people, rising costs and precious time means that speed and convenience move to the forefront for others. Digital banking is here to stay, and knowing how to use your banking tools can save you time and money.

It Begins With Online Banking

Online banking is the vanguard of digital banking and it still serves as a pillar of the online experience at a bank like First Palmetto Bank. The purpose of online banking is to offer the convenience of simple balance checks, account transfers, and transaction reviews.

You can think of Personal Online Banking much like the informational pamphlet of your digital banking experience. Online banking is perfect for:

• Checking your account or loan balance.
• Reviewing your latest transactions, pending items, and recent account history.
• Transferring money between accounts or making a loan payment.
• Reviewing account statements from the last year.
• Opting into electronic statements (eStatements) to cut down on paper consumption.
• Updating basic profile information like your password, phone number, and email address.

The above list functions as the first line of online banking, but there are several other features that enhance the experience.

1. Bill Payments. First Palmetto Bank offers CheckFree Bill Pay, which enables you to complete one-time or recurring bill payments from a simple and intuitive interface. This is a great tool to keep track of multiple bills and ensure that your payments are made on time.
2. Transfer Money From Person To Person With Popmoney. Popmoney is a simple P2P (person to person) payment provider included with CheckFree Bill Pay. You can pay your friends and family with this tool.
3. Categorize Your Transactions By Type And Export Your Transaction Data. As personal finance moves to the forefront for many people, the Categorize tool in online banking offers a quick way to categorize your account transactions and then export them into a tool like Microsoft Excel for all of the spreadsheet lovers out there. This tool is a great way to create a budget or simply understand where your money has gone over the last few months. Exports are also available for tools like Quicken, Quickbooks, Microsoft Money, and other budget tools that make use of the same formats as the above.
4. Set up Custom Alerts On A Wide Range Of Events. First Palmetto Bank offers the creative Notifi environment which offers a huge amount of alert types for your online banking account. You can receive an email, text message, secure account message, or app notification for any of the events. There is even a helpful Do Not Disturb feature which enables you to only receive alerts at specific times of the day. The categories for the alerts range, but it includes everything from security alerts to balance alerts to specific transaction criteria alerts and more.

To maximize your online banking experience, step beyond simple passive tools like viewing account balances and use your CheckFree Bill Pay, Popmoney, and Transaction Categorization tool to create an interactive experience, all from a single account sign-in. Using these tools will increase the information found at your fingertips, and likely save you time. And while many people have online banking, not everyone is taking advantage of these great features. Sometimes spending a little time playing with the tools can result in a more efficient flow of paying bills or keeping up with your money. You can come up with a way of managing and viewing your money that works for you.

Mobile Banking Extends Online Banking

Think of mobile banking as more than a short and sweet version of online banking. Mobile banking, just as online banking, is a force multiplier than can make your online experience fit your busy schedule on the go. Our First Palmetto Mobile App is available in the Apple App Store and Google Play stores for usage on most any recent iOS and Android (including Samsung) device. 

While the first feature of the mobile app is that it places all of the information in online banking at your literal fingertips, it offers some important functionality enhancements that online banking does not.

The biggest tool in the mobile banking arsenal is the mobile deposit feature. This feature means that you can make a secure deposit using your mobile device’s camera straight to any of your accounts. This takes away the need to even drive to the local branch office and make a deposit. And this alone makes the mobile app a virtual must-have.

And while some are concerned about the security of having their account on their phone, the First Palmetto Mobile App builds on top of each device operating system to use the latest and greatest in security technology. Easily secure your account with your phone’s fingerprint or camera tool to lock away access to your financial information.

You can also use tools like Instant Balance to keep your balance viewable in an even more convenient and quick location on your notification screen or widget area. And all of the key features of Online Banking are available through the app.

Make Online Banking and Mobile Banking Your Dynamic Duo

In order to have mobile banking, you will first need online banking. And the reality is that the most effective use of mobile banking comes when you use it in tandem with online banking. Mobile banking is a great tool to keep up with your purchases and balances on the go, and the mobile deposit feature can save a trip (or trips) to the local branch office when you really need to be somewhere else.

Use online banking to expand upon the traditional banking experience. Online banking can be paired with tools like Excel or other budgeting software to learn more about your money or budget your spending. You can also access all of your bills from your desktop or laptop computer to keep track of them each month.

Again, the two are most powerful when used together. For instance, opening up an additional savings account can be a great way to tuck away money for a future large expense. Making use of online or mobile banking to automate monthly transfers will ensure that the balance grows on a schedule. Making a mobile deposit or doing a quick transfer from the app when an unexpected check arrives can bump up the amount you have saved even more. And then you can go home later and download and input that information into your spreadsheet or budget software.

If you have not signed up for online banking, then what are you waiting for? Get started with online banking today or download the mobile app from the Apple App Store or Google Play store.