The first and foremost cause of the inertia of bank-shifting can be explained by the unwillingness of folks to shift to a newer institution. Most of us are simply ‘used to’ our affiliation with the current banking institutions we are connected to and find it either tedious or useless to go through the hassle of shifting our financial assets to another bank. A person with business acumen, however, would stop to consider some or all of the following traits of a bank when choosing one: Convenience, Terms, Business policy, Corporate Ethics.
One of the major banking characteristics that attract folks is the convenience provided by the institution. Depending on the facilities accessible to a person, one might find that they are better off with one of the new web banks. Examples of reliable web banks include The New Zealand Finance Company, Smile and Cahoots’. These online banks may provide customers with better interest rates because they’ve got lower overheads than high street banks that have to run branches in ‘real time’. Other forms of convenience should also be kept in mind while making up your mind to invest in a bank. It is a common finance statement: The citizens of this world are quite enamored with, if not addicted to, credit. A look in to a fellow shopper’s wallet will tell you how he or she prefers carrying credit cards instead of cash. You may find a few credit cards representing financial institutions, computer stores, furniture emporiums, petrol retailers, hardware superstores and more. A thoughtful investor would therefore, go for a banking institution that provides the most reasonable credit-card facility.
Interest Rates are an important consideration that fall into the “Terms” category. The higher the interest you expect to receive from a bank, the more attractive the bank is. Even though interest rates are important, one might find other elements to take into account when selecting a bank. These include bank charges. Bank charges include payments you need to make in case you exceed your overdraft limitation or if a check bounces. The lower these charges, the more you would want to be affiliated with the bank. Many institutions provide ‘ethical’ banking, which makes sure that your funds are not being used to fund organizations that do not conform to your ethical criteria. The way in ethical banking was led by The Co-operative Bank, but you will find other banks and investment businesses to select from.
Tips and comments:
With a little common sense, most people won’t have any trouble selecting a reputable bank. It is true that even reputable, big-name banks can fail (like Washington Mutual in 2008). There are many different factors in determining where you should invest your funds. Legitimacy, location, fees, size, wealth and worth and deposits are just some of them. Determining where you will like to invest your money begins with researching the different available sorts of investments, determining your risk tolerance and figuring out your investment style. Any banking institution that fulfills your criteria for all these categories might be fit for the job.
