refreshing life and living refreshed

When you and your banker don’t speak the same language, visual aids always save the day. 

It all started as a quick (so I thought) trip to the bank on California Street to deposit a check. Fast forward 35 minutes later, I walked out of Wellsfargo with a Credit Fraud 101 crash course, two new accounts, and a favorite banker named Deng.

Expected? Of course not.

Maybe this has happened to you before, maybe not. For me, it was the first time I walked into a bank and received this much information. But I’m thankful I did, especially as a recent transplant.

If you relocate anywhere or travel frequently, check out Deng’s (banker) reasoning why you should get an additional checking account.

Scenario 1: Online Purchases: For instance, that really good deal on Craigslist. Brand new bed, frame, and they’ll move it for only $50?! All you have to do is send payment first; of course it’s a buy!

Scenario 2: That dinner at the small Chinese café in our new ‘hood… One of your first meals in your city, the Mom/Pop restaurant was only a few blocks away. It looked like diamond in the rough.

Whenever you use your card, whether online or at a small restaurant, you run a risk of fraudulence.

Scenario 1 continued: Go figure… that price was too good to be true and you got screwed by the seller who took your money via Western Union, even though it sounded legit.

Scenario 2 continued: You just noticed today that the server changed your $10 tip to a $100 tip. And it turns out that the hole-in-the-wall Chinese café suddenly went out of business yesterday. (How convenient) Apparently diamonds don’t last forever…

Now what?

Before getting too worried, keep in mind that banks will replace the money stolen in most fraudulent cases. However, once your fraudulent claims climb past the $3k marker (notice Deng’s visual), banks take exceptionally longer to investigate your claim and replace the money.

So what does that mean for you?

Well, you could be without money for awhile, in some cases up to a year, before you see those pretty pennies again.

Prevent, without wasting a cent!

Open an additional checking account that should be used only for international and domestic travel and online purchases to avoid having your bank account completely cleaned out.

Why? 

Thieves will be unable to steal more money because there’s a freeze from the checking account pulling funds from other accounts (think of automatic overdraft protection where money is directly pulled from your savings). And if you keep the amount under $100, even if someone hacks into your account, the most that can be taken will be $100.

How does this help you? 

You’ll prevent losing your life savings and get your money back faster than you would if it the money was stolen from your savings account or personal checking account.

Why? 

Three reasons:

1)     Money placed in your checking account is actually owned by the bank, therefore the bank will want to get its money back ASAP

2)     Less money, less time: less money to investigate for foul play.

3)     Taking these preventative measures put you (and your money) in the banks favor. It’s like the God Father, “You, ah, help, ah, us and we will, ah, help, ah, you. You know?”