ALERTS! – and how to use them

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06.02.2021 Written by Fox Communities

Did that direct deposit come in yet?

Sometimes it’s early, you know. On the other hand, when it falls on a holiday, I never know what to expect. What about that bill that’s supposed to come out on the 15th? It never comes out on the day it’s supposed to. I wish someone could just call and let me know it’s done! It’s so stressful not knowing how much money I really have to work with and keeping a register is just NOT for me. I know I can’t keep track of all of those receipts. GAH!!

I know it can’t just be me who feels this way. If you’re as tired as I am of trying to remember all of those payments coming out and the deposits going in – this is the post for you! Our digital banking has an alerts feature that’s perfect for sending yourself helpful reminders for transactions that you know are important to you and your budget.

There are a few types of alerts you can set for yourself.

Account Alerts – these notify you of a change in your balance. You can set it to alert you when your balance dips below a certain amount so that you know you’re running low on funds in time to transfer from your savings or adjust payments before you have to pay overdraft fees (remember, our $10 overdraft Safety Net is also there to help you avoid fees). You can also use these to notify you when your balance goes above a certain amount so that you know when you’ve hit a savings goal!

History Alerts – these alerts are meant to let you know when a certain transaction has occurred. If you’re a person who likes to know when their direct deposit or tax return hits, this one is for you! You can set these so that when a transaction of a certain type, amount, or with a certain description (perhaps the name of the company that pays you…), you will be notified of it!

Online Transaction Alerts – these alerts are to let you know when a transaction happens within your digital banking account. So, if you have a regular transfer from your checking to your savings or perhaps from your account to your child’s (or your parents’!) and you’d like to make sure it goes through, you can set these up to notify you when internal transfers take place.

Reminders – these are exactly what they sound like. You can set them up to remind you of whatever you like! Remind yourself that rent is due, that grandma’s birthday is this weekend, or that you need to go get cash on Saturday because you’re going to need it for that trip with your friends on Sunday!

To save yourself a few headaches and automate some of your financial tasks, follow the steps below (Note: you can click on any of the pictures below to make them bigger. It’s not you, that print is small!):

Log in to your digital banking.
In the menu on the left, click on Services, and then choose Alerts.

3. You will be taken to your Alerts screen. Here you can turn on/off the default alerts that we have set up for your security (like notifying you when your address is updated). You can also add a new alert by clicking the blue button in the upper-right corner of the screen.

4. A dropdown menu will appear, allowing you to select the type of alert you’d like to create (see above for more information on the types of alerts and what they do). Let’s look at the two most common:

  1. Account alerts (to let you know if your balance drops below a certain level). Here is the setup screen:
  2. History alerts (to notify you of certain types of transactions). Here is what that setup looks like:

5. Once you’ve completed setup, all that’s left for you to do is to carry on your business as usual and wait for those alerts to start rolling in!
 

Life is filled with enough unknowns, your finances shouldn’t have to be a guessing game. Give these alerts a try and save yourself a few to-dos. If you need any help setting these up or if you have questions about the alerts (or anything else) in general, give our phone center a call at 920-993-9000 or email us at [email protected] and we’ll be happy to lend you a hand! We’re here to help you make “Of course I remembered!” happen!

Fox Communities Credit Union is a full-service, not-for-profit financial institution serving members throughout Eastern Wisconsin, including Appleton, Green Bay, Oshkosh, Manitowoc, and Milwaukee.