Best bank account alerts?

NorthantsPete81

So, I have some weird anxiety about logging into my bank account, however push messages im fine with

to keep check of my spending, who does the most comprehensive SMS service for spending?

Ideally id like notificationa dn balance everytime i spend on my debit card ie

ATM £10 current balance £567
Tesco £17 current balance £550

etc.

Or a mornign summary... so come week 2 i know to either slow down spending or make purchase choices.

Cheers

ET18

You can set up text notifications with Santander for every time money leaves your account

ColdIron

ET18 wrote: »

You can set up text notifications with Santander for every time money leaves your account

How do you do that? The 'Debit greater than set amount' alert has a minimum of £50

NorthantsPete81

on a side not, im with barclays, can they do it?

PRAISETHESUN

Monzo/Starling have instant notifications for all transactions. Not sure about other banks, but I suspect you could customise some alerts to let you know every time money leaves your account.

Otherwise you could use an account aggregator like Yolt and link your account(s) to that - it displays your balances and transaction histories, and syncs everytime you open the app so you could keep an eye on your balances that way - pretty sure it also has some alerts you could play around with

eskbanker

NorthantsPete81 wrote: »

on a side not, im with barclays, can they do it?

Details of their facility are at https://www.barclays.co.uk/ways-to-bank/mobile-banking-services/text-alerts-terms-conditions/

I seem to recall that one of the fintech startups offers notification of every transaction but unfortunately can't remember which, but suspect that's the exception rather than the rule. [Edit: better answer given in above post while I was typing!]

In any case, it would be unwise to fully rely on push notifications anyway - as per many previous posts on here it's not sensible to rely on your bank to know your actual available balance (inclusive of transactions it may not yet know about) and adding SMS into the equation is a further link in the chain where messages may go astray....

NorthantsPete81

im not fussed about the secuirty of it - ive just checked my app and push notifications are on but they only push when your balance is low (good i guess but too late) and if DD get set up, or if large sums come or go.

Ive made a suggestion viat the app but im going to keep looking

I find the whole logging into apps thing a pain, and something i wont do - but an sms with my current balance would at least keep me rolling without worrying if theres enough or ignoring and going into Overdraft

NorthantsPete81

Thanks Yolt is amazing - ill use that, somehow when its all grouped up its easier to digest for sure

colsten

PRAISETHESUN wrote: »

Monzo/Starling have instant notifications for all transactions.

All banks can only notify you of any transactions once they know about them. Major factors out of their control include when the retailer notifies them of purchases, whether there is a network connection between the retailer and themselves, whether their own IT systems are working properly, and whether you have a connection to the network.

The only party who can possibly know how much you spent is yourself. If you are unable to track your spending and your remaining available money, you can revert to using cash. Though I have seen reports from people who can't remember how much cash they withdrew, so this isn't a totally foolproof method, either.

sal_III

colsten wrote: »

All banks can only notify you of any transactions once they know about them. Major factors out of their control include when the retailer notifies them of purchases, whether there is a network connection between the retailer and themselves, whether their own IT systems are working properly, and whether you have a connection to the network.

All banks are not created equal. The bank itself is instantly aware of the transaction since they have to check availability of funds in your account and authorise the transaction.

The difference between Monzo/Starling etc. and the "old school" banks is that they instantly debit your account, where most of the old school banks only debit your account once every day or two, in the meantime the funds are blocked and unavailable to you but you have no clue what for. This is mostly to do with legacy processes, that have no place in the 21st century.

colsten

sal_III wrote: »

All banks are not created equal. The bank itself is instantly aware of the transaction since they have to check availability of funds in your account and authorise the transaction.

Nonsense. The best recent technology can't ensure, for instance, that there is always network connectivity. Read what I wrote.

sal_III wrote: »

The difference between Monzo/Starling etc. and the "old school" banks is that they instantly debit your account, where most of the old school banks only debit your account once every day or two, in the meantime the funds are blocked and unavailable to you but you have no clue what for. This is mostly to do with legacy processes, that have no place in the 21st century.

That's also nonsense as some transactions also show instantly with the 'dinosaur' banks.