Bankie$e

Oh, and start your summer right!!!

2010-05-09T22:50:00.000-04:00

When you pack your beach bag, try packing some beauties like: they'll be worth your while.

...And we're back!

2010-05-09T22:32:00.001-04:00

It's been a few months, and I'm sorry. We've seen some crazy stuff (cough, cough oil spill/tanker blowup, flash crash) and the FED keeps telling your bank to grab their coat and stand by the door BUT NEVER COMES OUT TO START THE CAR!!! (In other words, rates aren't going anywhere right now champ, sorry.) The one thing the FED is good for: information. I highly recommend that you get over to the FED website and scoop up the primo resources on tap. Comic books (even through they look like they were inked during the Carter administration,) PDF brochures, and DVDs are all available for free (that's right, zip, nada, gratis) and show up at your domicile super-duper fast. No joke, while they look a little hokey, these are invaluable tools to make you a total money smarty and help you understand why things are going the way they are right now (flash crash, I'm talking to you.)

New Credit Rules: What they are, and what you should know...

2010-02-21T23:44:00.000-05:00

Ok, starting this week all of the rules outlined in the CARD act of 2009 are taking effect, and here's a roundup of great resources:
--The summary of the CARD act is found here. (This one is straight from the Senate.)
--Articles explaining what the new rules could mean for you are found here. (Slog through the people who whine as if credit killed their mama and burned down the family farm, and just take notice of the actual information.)

It's been a while...

2010-01-10T19:07:00.000-05:00

The holidays are busy for everyone... especially for Bankie$e! There are lots of things to discuss, and lots of NEW news... which will be mercilessly trickled out over the next few weeks. It's a new year, it's a new world, it's been a while... and it will be getting better! Please, tell us what you want to know, what is important to you, and what you aren't getting from other sources!

What's that tingly-fresh scent in the air?

2009-11-02T23:02:00.001-05:00

Bankie$e is taking a break from it's scheduled debit card lecture to tell you about the cool new breeze blowing through the air: Mint.com! What Mint.com does is takes your online banking to the next level by taking your ENTIRE financial profile into consideration: all of your cash, credit, loans, and expenses are right there. (To be fair, Quicken also has an online service: QuickenOnline, but it is not as pretty and is very "technical" in its overall style and tone.) This means that you no longer have to toggle between online banking set-ups if you bank at multiple institutions: it's all right there. You can customize your transactions (so suddenly that weird alpha-numeric code posting to your activity page can be translated by you to read "light bill,") plan your budget, and see once and always what you have to work with.

Now, obviously, this is an emerging product (which many major banks have started to become compatible with) and not every bank has joined. This is where you, the consumer, come in. Popular demand can make things happen, so if you decide that a product like Mint.com (or one of it's sure-to-be clones) interests you, tell your bank to look into it. Warning: due to the "third-party login" format of mint.com, your bank may have a very good reason (oh, like your security perhaps) for not using it. If your bank gives this reason, go with it, it's better that your account information is secure than you getting to fiddle with bells and whistles.

The bank can't lose because:

It is a customer-driven secure site.
It requires online banking (which, unlike those private debit cards keeps the customer using a bank-related product.)
It helps the customer make decisions based on a variety of factors (including opportunities to obtain credit scores, and looking at what type of expenses they have rather than the purchases that they make.

Mint.com is a basic budgeting software with the convenience of an easy to both use and look at website. (This is where Mint.com has it all over QuickenOnline, which was never able to link up with my financial institution despite multiple attempts. I do however believe that this may be a personality issue: Quicken is technical and dry, Mint is convenient and pretty. Traditional gender roles do not generally apply to financial software, but in this case Mint's baking cookies and Quicken's mowing the lawn.)

The convenience factor here is off the charts: online banking can be incredibly difficult while travelling: but if it's all in one place, it's easier to handle. One login for all of your accounts as opposed to multiple logins, calls to the bank to figure out a password you forgot, etc. Mint is definitely worth checking out, and getting in on the ground floor is key, as it may truly become the Facebook of finance. (It could also fizzle like a seltzer tablet, but the reviews are very good and the product is so pleasant to use that it may just be the next fresh breeze to blow through banking.)

How a debit card works: Part 2--definitions

2009-10-25T11:13:00.001-04:00

Let's begin with some basic definitions:

debit--a transaction that deducts money from an account. Debits are limited to funds available.
debit card--a plastic card used by a consumer to authorize an instant deduction from their account for the amount authorized or to withdraw funds at an ATM.
ATM--"automatic teller machine" a computer that allows a consumer to make basic account transactions (withdrawal, deposit, check balances/activity.) NOTE: Many of the "service" functions have been replaced by online banking services, and not all of the service functions of ATMs are free.
Authorization--this is you champ! When you make a purchase it is authorized either by PIN or signature, sometimes by CVV (see below.) By authorizing the transaction you are setting a number of operations in motion, ultimately resulting in the money you spent being deducted from your account.
PIN--"personal identification number"--a four-digit code that a consumer uses to identify to a machine that they are the owner of the account. Yes, it is referred to on occasion as a "PIN number" and yes, that is redundant.
Signature--any non-PIN purchase is a "signature" purchase... whether or not the merchant requests that you sign. Many merchants (especially in the fast food industry) do not request a signature if the transaction under a certain dollar amount.
CVV--"card verification value" is a short code on the back of your debit card used to verify that you are 1.) holding the card in your hot little hand, and 2.) you are indeed making a purchase with it. Used primarrily for web or phone purchases where the card is not directly presented to the merchant.
Daily Limit--the banking institution will often set a limit on the daily dollar amount that can be withdrawn from the account, and a second amount for the number of dollars used for debit transactions. (This is what makes adults throw temper tantrums at the mall during the holidays.)
Cash-back--depending on the type of transaction made (mostly PIN-based, but sometimes signature-based) the consumer can ask for cash back from the merchant (sort of like getting change.) This can be done a number of ways, but the important part is that it is a withdrawal of cash from a non-network entity that is not subject to non-network fee scaling.
Merchant Processing--is the catch-all term for services that the merchant one purchases from utilizes to process the transaction. If you love to read government documents, the Merchant Processors Comptroller's Handbook may be found here. [Page 10 has a handy flow chart of the authorization process.] Basically, what you need to know is: you make the transaction, MPs take the money from your account to the merchant's account, and the transaction is not complete (clear) until all parties accept the terms of the transaction.
Hold--a hold is when a bank earmarks funds from an account to make a place for a recent transaction. Like a reverse of the "deposit hold" (when a bank does not reflect a recent deposit to ensure that the check clears) a "debit hold" keeps that portion of the funds inaccessible until the transaction clears. Sometimes, you will see a hold on the account after the transaction clears. Do not worry, you were not "double-charged" the hold will drop off. Holds are like warts: they are ugly, you can see them, and even if you spray them with freezie-spray they may still hang around for a few days.

Those are the basics...

Debit Cards: the basics (part 1)

2009-10-24T17:11:00.001-04:00

Debit Cards are everywhere... nearly every bank issues them, and most bank customers have them. The problem with debit cards tends to stem not from what they are, but from what they aren't
(To get you started, here is a basic definition of a debit card: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/913659/debit-card)
So what aren't debit cards?

They aren't credit-- they do carry a credit company logo (mostly Visa and Mastercard) but there is no credit associated with the card.
They aren't (usually) for savings accounts. Debit cards were introduced as "check cards" and are generally intended for purchase transactions at retailers that one used to write a check to complete. (They have, through aggressive marketing, also taken the place of cash. This has been both good and bad for consumers.)
They aren't going to protect you from yourself. If you don't have the money you will still be able to continue swiping, and the bank will start pocketing Non Sufficient Funds (or as I call them, Ninny Sucker Fool) fees from you.
They aren't going to build a credit rating for you (see the first point.)
They aren't very old (several sources claim they have been in use for about twenty years,but most banks didn't carry them until about ten years ago.)
They aren't just for banks. Several companies now allow consumers to have a debit card not associated with a particular bank.
They aren't your choice (if you go through a bank.) If the bank has a deal with Visa, you get a Visa Debit Card. If the bank has a deal with Mastercard, you get a MasterDebitCard. (Discover only entered the debit card arena two years ago--which is pretty late to the brand-loyalty party. American Express is too closely associated in the public consciousness with elitism and big business to bother with debit cards.)
They aren't going to give you unlimited access to your funds. Most card have two daily limits, one for cash and one for purchases. This differs from credit cards that simply limit the number of purchases that can be made in a day.

Tune in for the next post: how a debit card works!

Welcome to Bankie$e!

2009-10-24T15:48:00.002-04:00

As a bank employee in a major US city, I have noticed that the most difficult hurdle the average customer faces is figuring out the terms and topics related to banking and finance. Well folks... on most days my shift ends at 4:00 PM--but the internet never closes!
Here on Bankie$e I will post topics that will help you figure out how to make choices with your money by defining the products and services that you should look for as a banking consumer. I am open to topic suggestions, but the format will mostly be seasonal or topical (bank failures, bank mergers, and holiday shopping loom large, as does alternative banking.)
Feedback is more than welcome... it is necessary for this blog to thrive! Please tell me what you want to know about, it keeps me posting!
Jamie S.