Top Account Alerts to Manage Your Money and Personal Finances

Using account alerts are a great way to better manage your financial accounts and personal finances helping you save money and time.

What are account alerts?

Financial and bank account alerts are automated notifications that you as a customer of a financial institution can set up in your online banking to notify you to specific transactions (transaction alerts), unusual activity, account balances, security issues, or other changes taking place within your financial accounts. The alert notifications can be set up to be received via email, text message (SMS), or mobile push notifications received on your phone via your banks mobile app. For example, you can set up a bank alert that will send you an email notification any time there is an ATM withdrawal above $100.00 or another amount that you set.

Common types of account alerts to monitor your financial accounts include:

Checking / Saving account alerts

  • Available balance alert at regular intervals (daily, weekly, etc.)
  • Transactions alerts (all deposits and all deductions)
  • Deposit Alerts
  • Withdrawal Alerts
  • Bill payment reminders
  • Monthly statement alerts
  • Interest rate changes alerts
  • Specific check # posted to account
  • Check deducted over a specified amount (check written from your account was processed and went over the limit you set for this account alert)
  • Debit card charge made online, by phone, or mail
  • Debit card transaction made outside the United States
  • Debit card / ATM deduction (withdrawal) over s specific amount
  • Direct deposit credited to your account
  • Electronic draft deducted over a specific amount
  • Low balance alerts (notify when balance falls below a predetermined threshold)
  • Money transfer deducted over a specific amount
  • Online bill payment deducted over a specific amount
  • Account changes alerts

Credit Card Alerts 

  • Cash credit balance within a specific amount of cash credit line
  • Cash transaction from credit card over a specific amount
  • Credit card balance is within a specific amount of credit card limit (credit card utilization ratio)
  • Credit card charge made online, by phone, or by mail
  • Credit card charge of a specific amount
  • Credit card payment due
  • Credit card payment posted (confirmation of payment)
  • Credit card transaction outside the United States
  • Credit received on credit card
  • Purchase alerts (any purchase made on credit card)
  • Statement availability alert letting you know your monthly statement is ready for download and review
  • Changes to credit card account information such as change in card credit limit, change of billing address, or account password changes.
  • Credit card promotional alerts such as special offers, balance transfer promotions, 0 or low interest rate offers, rewards, or cash-back opportunities associated with your credit card.
  • Reward points alerts regarding point earned, available or expiring.
  • Credit card fraud alerts for suspicious account activity such as transactions that deviate from your typical spending habits or locations.

Account Security / Fraud Alerts

  • Unusual transactions
  • New account opened or account closed
  • Multiple Failed Login Attempts
  • Changes to Account Information
  • Unusual ATM Withdrawals
  • Account Lockouts 

Credit monitoring alerts

  • Credit score monitoring such as alerts for changes to your credit score
  • Credit reports changes (then you can review your credit reports and see what could be causes issues with a low credit score and try to improve your credit score and achieve a high credit score)
    • credit inquiry from a lender
    • new accounts opened
    • credit utilization ratio changes

Investment Account Alerts (Stock Alerts)

Investment account alerts can help you manage your portfolio whether you are a long-term investor or day trader. Alerts for Individual stocks, bonds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds, futures, options, derivatives and other financial securities include:
  • Stock Price changes (or any financial securities price change) (stock price alerts)
    • Stock price drops below or above a certain price
    • Stock price percentage changes
    • Stock price reaches 52 week high or 52 week low
    • Stock price crosses moving average (15-day, 30-day, etc.)
    • Stock price changes relative to Indexes such as S&P, Dow Index, or Nasdaq
  • Stock trading volume change alerts
  • Stock Split Alerts
  • Stock Spin off Alerts
  • Dividend alerts
    • Dividend announcement
    • Dividend ex-date
    • Dividend pay date
  • Financial News alerts
  • Company earnings date
  • Company earnings reported
  • Investment account events: when a deposit or trade occurs in your account

Personal Finance Software Alerts

Money management software can have their own built-in alerts, indicators, or notifications to keep you abreast of your financial accounts and personal budget.

  • Checking account balance alerts such as a low balance alert for checking and savings accounts as tracked in the Excel checkbook registers of the checkbook software. You can set these account alerts for both personal checking accounts and personal savings accounts and business checking accounts and business savings accounts.
  • Credit card alerts such as high balance alerts for credit card accounts in the credit card registers of checkbook app. You can set this account balance alert for personal credit cards and business credit cards.
  • Budget spreadsheets that have indicators and charts signifying that spending in certain budgeting categories is over budget.
  • Budgeting Apps with savings goals alerts to help you monitor your progress towards putting money aside for future purchases, expenses, vacations, weddings, college and more.
  • Checkbook Software with account reconciliation alerts showing your number of transactions outstanding and cleared and the dollar amount of transactions outstanding and cleared which and help you easily balance your checking account.