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Finance FYI Presented by JPMorgan Chase

Protecting your money should be a top priority for every adult. Whether you need a place for your paycheck or investing, it is important to make sure that the institutions you entrust your money to are legitimate.

As more financial services move to online platforms, it can be difficult to know if your money is safe and in the hands of trusted professionals. Below are tips on how to keep your money protected. From checking small, local banks to determining if online options are trustworthy, this guide is sure to save you money.

Member of the FDIC

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insures deposits with banking institutions across the country. Banking with an institution that is a member of the FDIC is the definitive way to ensure that your money is protected. The FDIC covers each depositor up to $ 250,000, and you shouldn’t entrust your money to any institution that is not a member.

There are many ways to ensure that your bank is a member of the FDIC. Most institutions display the logo and have posted information about their membership in the building. You can also ask staff or use the FDIC’s bank finder tool.

While FDIC membership is the most important factor, there are other red flags warning you of a bank’s legitimacy.

Read reviews

While it’s true that you can’t trust everything you read on the internet, you should be able to get good information from reading reviews, such as customer service and a bank’s reliability – just read along Attention. You can also find valuable information on customer complaints by researching the Better Business Bureau archives. If a negative pattern comes up, you may want to go elsewhere.

Investigate websites

As banking institutions continue to invest heavily in mobile platforms, you will notice a segregation between the contenders and the contenders on their websites. Most of the fraudulent online banks have unsecured websites with poor design and limited functionality.

Although there are exceptions, the better the website, the more trustworthy an institution. Some small town credit unions and banks have extremely limited websites. So make sure they are FDIC insured before running your business there.

Visit a branch

One of the easiest ways to calm down is to visit a branch in person. Bad actors won’t last long with one physical location and usually keep their scams entirely online. If you have any doubts about a bank, visit them in person, speak to the staff, and make sure you are familiar with the operation before giving them your business.

Pay attention

Keeping up with the latest news can protect yourself too. If you hear rumors that another company may be buying your local bank, it could be a sign that your finances are not in excellent shape. Increased fees, fewer staff and branch closures are also common signs of problems. Although you are protected by FDIC insurance, remain vigilant about changes with your bank in order to save your money from a potentially bad situation.

Fortunately, there are consumer protections in the financial world to help you avoid falling victim to fraud. While it is more of a concern in investment circles, it is important to do thorough research to avoid over-exploiting businesses. Follow these tips to do safe banking and rest assured that your money is safe all the time.

Finance FYI is presented by JPMorgan Chase. JPMorgan Chase is pledging $ 30 billion over the next five years to address some of the biggest drivers of the racial wealth gap.