A recent American Bankers Association (ABA) survey found mobile banking was the preferred banking method in 2023 according to 60 percent of Millennials, 57 percent of Gen Z and 52 percent of Gen X individuals.

With mobile banking’s growing popularity across multiple generations, monitoring your accounts with alerts can help you master your finances. Here are six alerts you should incorporate into everyday banking:

1. Projected Balance Alerts:

Notifies you when your projected account balance drops below a specified amount.

• How is this calculated? Projected Balance Alerts takes into account your current balance including any payments or deposits that will post to your account within the same business day.
  • Note: the projection is not a guarantee of the account’s final balance, but it is an estimate based on the information available. On a heavy bill or purchase day, you may receive more than one alert depending on account activity. 
• How can you use this? When payday hits and it’s time to pay bills, this alert lets you know where your account stands. Whether you have enough left over to go out to dinner or need to make a transfer between accounts—this notification will help you mitigate overdrafts.

2. Daily Balance Alerts:

Sends your account balance via email or text message at the start of each business day.

• How is this calculated? This alert uses the current balance based on posted transactions from the previous business day.
• How can you use this? Rather than manually logging into your account or calling the bank to check your balance, Daily Balance Alerts notifies you how much money you have in your account every morning. This alert keeps you plugged into your finances, especially on busy days when shuffling kids to school or preparing for an important meeting at work.

3. Withdrawal and Purchase Alerts:

Notifies you each time money is debited from your account. These debits can include ATM withdrawals, card purchases, cashed checks, enhanced transfers, incoming or outgoing wires, in-branch withdrawals, and more.

• How is this calculated? The default setting does not specify a certain dollar amount that triggers the alert; however, you can customize the notification. For instance, you can limit notifications to specific transaction types, including debit card purchases, cashed checks, etc., or set a minimum dollar amount (i.e. $1, $50, $100).
• How can you use this? This feature not only alerts you to withdrawals and purchases to help you stay on budget, but also acts as a form of security. If you’re sitting at home watching TV and you get a purchase alert for $50 at Target, there’s a chance your debit card was used to make an unauthorized purchase. At this point, you can act fast and report it lost/stolen within FirstBank’s mobile app or by calling FirstBank’s customer service line.

4. Account Balance Alerts:

Notifies you when your account balance drops below or rises above a specified amount.

• How is this calculated? This alert uses your current balance, including ‘posted’ or debited transactions from the previous business day. Account Balance Alerts are sent at the beginning of each business day.
• How can you use this? Account Balance Alerts help you discern where you stand financially. Whether your balance allows you to stop for coffee on the way to work or reminds you to make dinner at home, this helps you remain in control.

5. Deposit Alerts:

Notifies you when a ‘credit’ or deposit posts to your account. This feature also allows you to set a minimum deposit amount to be alerted. FirstBank’s Deposit Alerts are sent on business days—Monday through Saturday.

• How is this calculated? Credits are classified as any type of deposit into your account like payroll, cash, checks, Zelle® transfers, and more.
• How can you use this? If you’re waiting for a tax refund or reimbursement check to hit your account, this alert will notify you as soon as it arrives—saving you time and energy.

Are available when a change is made to your Online Banking* profile or Alerts settings.

6. Security Alerts:

You will also be notified of any unusual or high-risk debit card transactions if you enable text alerts.

• How is this calculated? FirstBank’s Fraud Prevention team works 24/7 to flag suspicious and unauthorized transactions. Security Alerts are triggered by changes to your:
  • Physical address
  • Email address
  • Phone number
  • Online Banking user name or password
  • Security questions
  • Alert delivery setting
• How can you use this? If you’ve experienced identify theft or fraud, these features will help safeguard your account and personal information from frequent attacks. Even if you haven’t personally experienced fraud, this added security feature will alert you to any identity theft attempts.

Sign Up for Mobile Banking Alerts:

You can set up alerts via the desktop portal at efirstbank.com or FirstBank’s Mobile Banking App. You can easily find FirstBank’s mobile app available for download in the Apple or Google Play store.

Follow these steps to activate Alerts via Online Banking*:

1. Visit efirstbank.com on your desktop and log into your Online Banking* profile
2. Click on the ‘Online Banking*’ tab
3. Select ‘Alerts’ under the ‘Communication Center’ section
4. Select the account you’d like to set up for Alerts
5. Find the type of Alert you’d like to sign up for
   • If it’s an Account Balance Alert, fill out the ‘Balance Below’ and ‘Balance Above’ field
   • This will allow you to set a specific range for your balance alert
   • For instance, if you’d like to receive a notification when your account falls below $100, the ‘Balance Below’ field should read $100
   • Feel free to adjust these amounts to align with your budget  

Follow these steps to activate alerts through our Mobile Banking App:

1. After you download the FirstBank Mobile App, login using your Online Banking* credentials
2. Click on the hamburger menu in the top right-hand corner.
3. Select ‘Settings’
4. Click on ‘Alerts’
5. Select the account you’d like to set up for Alerts
6. From there you can select the type of Alert you’d like to activate (Account Balance, Withdrawals and Purchases, etc.)

If you’re having difficulty locating or activating Alerts in Online Banking*, contact our Online Banking Department at 303-232-5522 or stop by your local FirstBank location.

As a reminder, Alerts are not meant to be used as overdraft protection. They are simply there to notify you of account activity. If at any point you’d like to cancel a text alert, reply with “Stop” to discontinue that specific text alert.

While you may be signing up for Alerts yourself, it’s common for fraudsters to send fake bank alerts with malicious links. Fraud texts can lure you into giving out personal or financial information. Read 5 Signs This Text is A Scam at efirstbankblog.com to learn more about various text scams.  

*Online Banking is free if enrolled for eStatements or $3.00/month for consumers and $10.00/month for business customers.

Zelle® and the Zelle® related marks are wholly owned by Early Warning Services, LLC and are used herein under license.

U.S. checking or savings account required to use Zelle®. Transactions between enrolled consumers typically occur in minutes.

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