Finding Freedom & Flexibility for Your Money

Banks and the people who run them are not very popular when viewed by the majority of the public. It’s probably something to do with the recession and the fact that they still received huge bonuses despite causing the economy to slump – it’s understandable why there might be tension.

However, it can feel as if we are held hostage by the monopolising of banks, where some of our only alternatives seem to be stuffing money into a mattress or under the floorboard. This is not only unwise from a security standpoint, but it also removes things like interest on money from the equation.

Not only that, but banks tend to have seemingly arbitrary rules and regulations. For example, you must wait days for a cheque to clear or you must pay an overdraft fee if you go below your balance.

The way banks dictate how and when we access our money; with having to wait days to cash a cheque or paying an excessive fee if you go below your balance, regardless of circumstances can be very irritating. Thanks to the internet, however, there is now a range of flexible ways to use your money online. It’s all very new, and actually at times a little bit daunting, but it’s really quite easy to find freedom and flexibility for your money online by using alternative payment gateways.

For businesses, there are numerous benefits of using a business bank account. Even if you’re a small business owner then using a specialist business bank account is an easy way to keep track of personal transactions and business finances separately. However, there are several disadvantages to opening a separate commercial bank account through your regular bank. For example, many will charge a fee upon opening an account, and often charge fees for various transaction types.

If you look online however, there are many flexible payment gateways that use an online business bank account model. These work by enabling you to pay in and out of the account to your bank, but without it being directly tied to it.

Some features of online business accounts that might be appealing when searching for flexibility include;

Simplicity – There are a lot of formalities when it comes to business banking, but an online account will usually be a simple and quick online application. In addition there is often an instant decision on your application, something that doesn’t happen in a normal bank.

Cost Effective – An online bank account can help you cut costs at which is incredibly beneficial to start-ups and smaller businesses. Often you don’t have to pay monthly costs or have banking fees applied to you offers a huge advantage

Cards – Using an online bank account for your business does not necessarily mean you cannot have a corporate card. The only difference is that it works like a prepaid card, as you can only spend the amount stored on the card. However, many of them are MasterCards so you can use them in shops and anywhere these are normally accepted.

Finding freedom and flexibility online is a real perk for a business, particularly if you’re a small business just starting out and wish to cut costs.

Sometimes you get in a pinch and need to send some money. Maybe it’s an emergency or maybe you just need to pay a friend for dinner or concert tickets – it could be anything. However, often transferring money between bank accounts requires an irritating waiting period. This is especially true if you need to send money internationally, yet now there are online payment gateway alternatives. PayPal is a great example of this as you can send money to a range of countries instantly.

Advantages of using online payment account to transfer money include;

Instant Payments – Many online merchants offer an instant money transfer online, even internationally. This is much more efficient than traditional banks who usually require waiting periods.

Security – By using an online bank account, not tied to your regular account, your exposure to potential fraud is limited only to the value of your online account – and not the value of your normal current account. This means that your money transfers will be more secure.

Costs – Once again sending money through an online merchant is often much cheaper compared to traditional bank accounts. This is particularly true of international payments, which often have excessive processing fees.

Shopping online is one of the most common things that we do. In fact the rate of eCommerce in the U.S. is rising an average of 10% per year. Aside from the inherent convenience of online shopping, there is also a considerable amount of risk.

Although most online retailers work hard to offer a secure and reliable service, as the Heartbleed bug has indicated, you can never be too careful. By using an online account to shop on the internet you prevent the possibility of your bank details being taken – thus limiting your exposure to hackers.

This is particularly good for shopping securely on sites you aren’t familiar with. If you’re unsure of buying from a new site then you’re able to have greater freedom with an online payment account, because it is not tied to your main bank.

There are so many different online payment accounts and digital alternatives to many of the high-street bank services that we can enjoy. The real issue is being aware that these services exist, with banks dominating our minds in terms of advertising and their presence on our streets.

However, freedom and flexibility is entirely achievable and there should be greater access and functionality to our money. High street banks are unable to fulfil this need and this is why online alternatives are stepping in to fill the gap.

Thanks for reading. Do you have another point to talk about? Let me know by commenting. I’d suggest reading the rest of my work in Instructables too, especially How To Be More Efficient In Business.