Tips for protecting your money when saving it in a bank

Posted by Felix Okoli on Thursday June 5, 2014 at 16:36:47:

We all have the need to save our money in a bank, either as ordinary savings or for it to produce interests for us. There are different types of account. A Savings account allows you to save money in an account with very little interest and instant access to your money. A Current accounts which is mostly for Workers and businessmen and comes with a cheque book for third party withdrawal. Finally, there is a Fixed- deposit account, which comes with a high interest rate over a period of time and requires higher capital.

Firstly, always ask for terms and conditions associated with a category of account before you open an account. The terms and conditions that work with a savings account will not be the same that will work with a current account. Knowing the terms and conditions of a particular account helps you know what terms and policies that is likely to affect your money in the future.

Secondly, always request for a monthly bank statement. Your bank statement for a period of time shows the transactions that took place in your account for that period of time, both o the credit and the debit side. Requesting for your account statement helps you go through your account transactions o make sure they correspond with the one you have.

Thirdly, ensure that your money is fully insured by the banker's insurance company and in Nigeria, it's the NDIC. Don't save more than the NDIC can insure for you unless you won't be so bothered about losing it if the bank closed up.

Fourthly, try to keep a tab on independent reports about your bank and prune through the bad ones so that you know when to take your money out or if you are going to continue saving with them.

Fifthly, move with the bank. If the bank is losing customers, don't be the last to leave because it may very well cost you your money if it runs into financial trouble.

Sixth, avoid banking with banks who offer bad customer service. A bank that has low quality staff is more likely to offer less care for your money. So, you should move to another bank.

Finally, always keep in touch with your account officer. Your account officer is a person that is assigned to help you with matters relating to your ban account. Every account holder has an account officer, but very few people care to know who they are and keep in touch with them.