Lesson 16 — Activity 4: Bank Accounts
Lesson 16 — Activity 4:
Bank Accounts
After you have a job — and even before — you may want to apply to open a bank account to manage your money. In the previous lessons, you reviewed the process for getting a Social Insurance Number and applying for a job. Now let's review the steps you need to follow to open a bank account to manage your money.
Image courtesy of iStock
Opening a bank account has several advantages. The following are some of these advantages:
- It is easier to keep track of your money when you have a bank account. Most employers today will deposit your paycheque directly into your account.
- You may save a great deal of money by having a bank account to cash or deposit your paycheque. Cheque cashing businesses usually charge a service fee of several dollars to cash your cheque if you do not have a bank account.
- By having an account, you can begin to establish a credit rating. A good credit rating is required when you are making expensive purchases such as buying a vehicle.
- You can keep your money safer in a bank than in your wallet, purse, or pocket.
- You can have access to your money through debit cards rather than carrying large amounts of money around to make a purchase.
- You can access your money any time or any place, even when travelling in a different country, by using the online banking system to access bank machines and use debit cards.
These are some of the reasons that you might want to consider when you are thinking about whether or not to apply for a bank account.
Click hereto see an example of a bank application form. In the next assignment, you will practise completing the form.
Protecting Your Bank Account
As with all personal information, you need to be careful to protect your account and PINs from identity theft.
One precaution you can take with your money and personal information is to carry only the information that is required. This is to avoid loss or theft of information. You should shred documents that are out of date or contain incorrect personal information. As well, you should be aware of the dates when paycheques and bills will be delivered. Do not leave such items in areas where they could be picked up by an unwanted person.
The information provided here by the RCMP shows some of the different situations where you can run into scams. These scams
can create problems for you in terms of identity theft — that is, when someone else gets access to your personal information and uses this information for criminal behaviours such as taking money from your bank account, or using your credit cards.
Looking at the site, you can see that you need to be very careful how you use your banking information and who you share it with.
The RCMP recommends the following suggestions for protecting your identity and personal information:
- Ask who you are dealing with. Is the person believable or too enthusiastic and overly friendly?
- Ask why you are being asked for more information than is necessary.
- Ask yourself if you are being rushed or pressured into making a decision.
- Ask yourself if the offer is too good to be true.
- Check for anything strange or unusual about an ATM (Automatic Teller Machine). Is it possible there is a hidden camera or person checking your PIN (Personal Identification Number)?
- Check that the website/employer/organization is reliable or legitimate (by legitimate, they mean legal).
- Be aware if you are being asked to pay a fee or tax in order to receive an item of higher value.
- Know how the person or organization obtained your contact information.
- Be aware of sharing personal information in a way that it might be overheard such as: on a cellphone, in a chat room, on a website, or in an e-mail.
If you are not sure of the answer to these questions, you may want to reconsider sharing personal information or banking information in those situations.