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Choosing The Right Financial Option For You!

10/08/2019

Making a final decision on where you do your online banking in York is something you want to take your time on. Even if your needs are relatively basic, things like the interest rates on your savings accounts can play a key role in making the right decisions for you. However, if you have more serious plans, like borrowing to finance a car, home, or business, there’s even larger considerations you need to make, as the lender you choose will play a big role in your finances for years to come.

With stakes like these, it’s easy for people to become overwhelmed while deciding on a bank or credit union. The best way to find the right match for you is to take inventory on a few key things. Start with your basic financial status as of right now, the financial habits you currently have, and what you anticipate needing in the future. A lot of people may have different sets of needs, which leads to them working with multiple financial institutions for different purposes. For now, though, let’s see what you want in terms of business banking in York and other plans.

Making A Choice

Let’s start by narrowing down the three main options you have in terms of financial institutions. Some will say that one is automatically the best option out of these three, but the best way to look at it is in terms of what is the best match for your needs and goals. Let’s first talk about your conventional bank. These generally offer financial items, like loan accounts in York, and customer service via physical location. The ability to handle tasks like these with someone in person is a big draw for a lot of people. As an additional benefit, if you opt to work with a larger bank, it’s more likely that you have a larger set of financial products to work with. 

However, if you opt for online banks, nowadays, the arsenal of financial products isn’t too far off from physical locations. This can include mortgages in York. The key difference here is that you generally don’t have a lot of physical branches in place compared to these other banks. However, this can be a positive and negative. In terms of positive, these banks don’t have a lot of overhead, which allows them to sometimes offer better fees and interest rates. In essence, their savings get passed on to you. The drawback of this, though, is that if you do have a major problem or question, you can’t simply drive to your local branch and talk to someone.

The third main option you have in terms of finances are credit unions. A credit union is a non-profit, member-owned organization. Its basic goal is to provide services and financial products to all members. Because of its structure, when the credit union makes a profit, these are passed back to members through lower rates and fees on their loans. In turn, you also see a higher dividend on your accounts. The one caveat here is that to join a credit union, you generally need to meet some sort of criteria. This may be based on your community, job, or membership in an organization. If you work with a local credit union, this may allow you to develop a more personal relationship with the staff, which most people value. 

One fact that applies to all three of these options is that you want to be sure that any money you put into them is protected. Make sure you work with banks insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Credit unions have the similar equivalent of the National Credit Union Administration. Both of these organizations make sure your money is insured by at least up to $250,000 per person. Here at First Capital we offer Excess Share Insurance which allows us to insure your funds up to an additional $250,000 per person, which equates to $500,000!  As a result, if the institution ends up failing, your money is safe.

Final Decisions

With this in mind, you may have one of the three options we just discussed as the perfect fit for you. Of course, you need to narrow the field further to find your next bank or credit union. A good place to start is determining what products and services are available for you. Chances are that you already have the basics available, like a checking account to pay bills and a savings account to build up funds. Just about any bank or credit union will be able to offer some loan products as well, such as personal loans and credit cards. In some cases, your needs may be more specific, like wealth management. In this case, you will likely need to do additional searching. 

Interest rates are particularly important because they enable you to pay less on loans in York while getting more back from your savings. However, the rates you have available are going to differ quite a bit from one institution to the other. It’s also a good idea to take a look into things like maintenance fees, wire transfer fees, and overdraft fees.

Finally, you don’t need to go to an online institution for these banking options. There are plenty of institutions that have physical locations as well as apps and services that enable you to bank on the go. If this is a priority for you, decide what features you want and ask around. Make sure all relevant mobile banking options come with security measures, though.

You also want to give heavy consideration to the location of your branches. The last thing you want to do is make a long trip from your home or office just to ask a basic question. Frequent travelers may also want to think about the financial options in the areas they visit as well. Finally, even if you don’t walk into branches a lot, you should see where the financial institutions ATMs are located. With some institutions there may be fees if you use an ATM that isn’t in the branch’s network, so check that as well.  But please know, if you have a Kasasa checking account with First Capital, EVERY ATM is YOUR ATM!

Several financial institutions have technology that allows their clients to bank from home or while traveling. Be sure to look up what your potential bank has to offer in terms of mobile options and mobile check deposit, or other apps. However, with this convenience can sometimes come security concerns. Make sure that you look for a bank or credit union with two-factor authentication to keep your money and data safe.

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