To get paid for the first time is the achievement you should celebrate. Nevertheless, moving the salary between the bank accounts can appear difficult to you since you already have the checking account in one bank and the saving account in another. The ability to make transfers is one of the most useful financial skills you should learn immediately. Transfers can be considered the adult Pokémon transfers of items between Pokémon boxes.
ACH transfer is the most widespread method of money transfer that uses Automated Clearing House (ACH). You may find it in “Transfers” or “Move Money” tab in the mobile application of the bank. It can be considered the modern version of the mailman bringing the check from one bank to another. It is safe and efficient, nevertheless, the process of transfer is not quick at all.
On average, one needs to wait for three to five business days to receive the transferred money. In this way, the banks can check the funds and protect the user from frauds. The instant transfer is possible but the additional fee is needed for this service; moreover, patience saves you about thirty dollars. For the initiation of the transaction, one needs to have the routing number and account number of the receiving bank.
These two codes identify the financial institution and your personal savings, respectively. The routing number and account number can be found on the check or in the mobile application of the bank. Double check these numbers, otherwise, the money will disappear because of one typo.
As the alternative, one can use the third-party applications, such as Venmo, Zelle, or PayPal. The Zelle transfer is integrated into the applications of many banks, including Chase and Bank of America. It works really fast. Using Venmo, one can easily split the expenses with his/her friends but the transfers of large amounts of money to the bank can take some time. I prefer using Zelle for the transferring money between accounts.
One should remember about the transfer limit that the banks set for one day for security reasons. Thus, one can transfer only the limited amount of money daily to avoid being robbed by hackers. For larger transfers, the wire transfer is required; it is expensive but inevitable when buying a house or a car.
The smartest method of transferring money is to automate the recurring transfers in order to achieve the savings goal. In this way, one considers his/her savings account as the monthly expense. It prevents one from spending the extra money online late in the evening. This approach is the easiest one to accumulate the emergency fund.
If the transfer does not work, it means that the account number is incorrect. In this case, the money will be returned to you within several days. If the transfer did not work out, one may ask for the help of the customer support agent. Remember that the banking system operates on the basis of the old-fashioned code that is written on the duct tape.
Money transfers may seem boring but they give the opportunity to control your finances. The joy from the growth of your savings thanks to the automation cannot be described. Do not be scared of the banking terminology; the apps do everything. Now, go and make a transfer. Enjoy your coffee. ☕️