Money Smarts Blog

As the sleigh bells jingle and the scent of freshly baked cookies fills the air, the holiday season brings warmth, joy, and sometimes, a flurry of expenses. Amidst the festive cheer, managing your finances effectively becomes as essential as a well-decorated tree.

Real-time low balance alerts, think of them as your merry financial elves, offer a gift-wrapped solution to keep your holiday finances in check. Here's three reasons why real-time alerts should be at the top of your wish list this Christmas:

Timely financial tidings: Just like receiving a gift, imagine the delight of instantly knowing when your account balance starts to dwindle. As soon as your balance crosses the threshold you've set up, you'll receive an immediate alert via your preferred communication method. Make multiple transactions that put you below your threshold? Yep, you’ll get a message for each one.

Dodging frosty overdraft fees: With low balance alerts activated, you receive a swift notification before your account dips too low, saving you from the frosty sting of overdraft fees. These alerts are your financial snowflakes, warning you in time to prevent your account from going into the red.

Your festive messaging: Select your preferred notification method to receive alerts — whether it's the cozy warmth of an email or the quick cheer of an text. Or why not both? Choose your preferred channels like picking the prettiest ornaments for your tree.

Let these alerts be your trusty companions through the holiday season, guiding you to financial peace and ensuring that the only surprises you encounter are the joyful ones under the tree.

Need to set up alerts or check which ones are set? From your desktop, login to Online Banking and click on My Settings in the upper right corner. At the bottom of the page, click Alerts & Notifications. From there, you can choose the alert type, and low balance threshold.