How to Bank

From setting up online banking to voiding checks, this beginner's guide will give you the basics of consumer banking.
A homeowner looks over her escrow account.
What Is Escrow?
Why Does Compound Interest Matter? Compound interest equals interest earned on money that was previously earned as interest. Compound interest causes interest and account balances to grow. Good for savings and investments, but can work against you in playing interest on a loan. Frequency, time, interest rate, deposits, and the starting amount all make compound interest powerful.
What Is Compound Interest?
What Is a Wire Transfer?
Is PayPal Safe for Sellers and Buyers?
Here Are Easy Step-By-Steps Instructions How to Open A Bank Account
Businesswoman reaching for paperwork
What Are Notarized Documents?
Illustration showing checks, jars, certificates and tables representing the different types of bank accounts
Learn About 5 Different Accounts Your Bank Offers
ABA Numbers: Where To Find Them and How They Work
Couple looking at paperwork together
What Is a Beneficiary?
The differences between ACH and wire transfers.
Compare and Contrast: Speed, Cost, Risk, and More
Image shows three panels: a man paying for something at a counter; a woman paying for her bill at a cafe; a woman paying for a movie ticket. Text reads: "Paypal's prepaid, debit, and credit cards. The prepaid mastercard–PROS: no credit check, FDIC insured. CONS: can't pull funds from your paypal account; a $4.95 monthly fee. The debit mastercard– PROS: Use funds from your paypal account; cash back rewards. CONS: Primarily for business accounts. The extras mastercard– PROS: no annual fee; earn points. CONS: required credit checks."
PayPal Debit and Credit Cards: Which Is Best?
A bank teller processes a transaction for a bank customer.
How (and Where) To Conduct an International Wire Transfer
Woman checking her bank account balance online for a ACH payment
ACH Payments Can Benefit Everybody. See How They Work
A woman working at a computer using software to analyze qualitative data.
What Is Annual Percentage Yield?
Online Account Opening
Here's What You Need to Know to Open Bank Accounts Online
Rush hour
Reducing Your Public Financial Information
Converting Percentages to Decimals Is Easy
Learn How and Where to Deposit Cash to Get Your Money Into the Bank
What Is the Available Balance in Your Bank Account?
Young woman walking through a banking district
What Is the FDIC?
Six blue, plastic figures stand in a circle surrounding a pile of money, illustrating the concept of people participating in a tanda
What Is a Tanda?
Image shows six icons: a laptop on a banking site, a smartphone with a banking app open, a phone, an atm, a text alert with a moneybag in it, and a bank teller. Text reads: "6 ways to check you bank balance: check online, download a mobile app, call your bank, visit at atm, set up alerts, ask a teller"
6 Easy Ways to Track Your Bank Balance
Mobile payments
Want to Pay With Your Mobile Phone? Here's How
Young couple using laptop
Your State Might Be Holding Forgotten Money for You
Realtor showing new house to young couple
Ways to Use Escrow Accounts
Couple talking to bank employee about loan
Credit Union Customers: See How You Benefit From CO-OP Shared Branches
How Do You Send or Receive Money With a Wire Transfer?
quick facts: facebook messenger payments
Send and Receive Money With Facebook Messenger
Woman using digital tablet on sofa
Apps and Services to Send Money Online
Cropped shot of a handsome mature businessman reading the paper while sitting in the backseat of a car during his morning commute
Swiss Bank Accounts Provide Privacy and Other Benefits but Not Secrecy
Bank customers wait in line to see a representative
How to Switch Your Bank
Open bank vault
What Is Fractional-Reserve Banking?
Close up man paying using smart watch contactless payment
The Cheapest Ways and Options to Send Money
Man paying bills online
What Is Online Bill Pay?
Female executive talking to business partners about choosing a bank.
Should You Bank Locally or Choose a National Bank?
How to calculate monthly interest that you may pay or earn on $2,000
How To Calculate Monthly Interest for Loans, Bank Accounts, and More
Map of world made of various currency
See How Easy it Is to Send Money Abroad
Image shows a woman on the phone looking distressed. Text reads: "Steps to take when you see an unauthorized transaction on your account: contact your back, contact the vendor, dispute any charge with your bank or credit card company; file a fraud or police report; switch your bank drafts to your new account or card; monitor your account and credit closely"
What If I Find an Unauthorized Transaction on My Bank Account?
get to know your debit and credit cards
Get to Know Your Debit or Credit Card From Front to Back
Hundred dollar bills emerging from ATM
The Risks of Deposits at ATMs: What Could Go Wrong?
Brick and Mortar Bank
What Are Brick and Mortar Bank Branches?
Woman connecting to neobank with smartphone
What Is a Neobank?
Person using P2P payment system on smartphone to send money
Zelle Adds Options for P2P Payments, and You Probably Already Have It
Image of a bank and a credit card.
Ways to Open Bank Accounts for the Under-18 Crowd
Open Bank Vault Door
Understanding Funds Availability Policies at Your Bank
Portraits of U.S. presidents on dollar bills
What Is Money?
Bank Of America Reports Loss Due 6 Billion Dollar Legal Charge
Bank of America: The Best ATMs in Banking?
The benefits of online banking—quicker, easier, and safer—outlined in an illustration
What Is Online Banking?
Young woman paying bills with a credit card
Online Banking: Pros and Cons
The outside of a bank with a large sign on the front
The Impact of a Bank Run on Banking Institutions
Woman using calculator and laptop
Balance Your Checkbook With Templates and Spreadsheets
Woman sitting in front of laptop using a calculator to pay her bills online
How to Pay Your Bills Online
The pros and cons of moving to a cashless society
Cashless Society Pros and Cons
couple-overdrawn.jpg
A 5-Step Guide to Fixing an Overdrawn Bank Account
Young woman withdrawing money from an ATM, other woman waiting in line behind her.
What Does It Mean to Nationalize Banks and Industries?
A pile of ATM, debit and credit cards
Understanding ATM, Debit, and Credit Cards
Making It Rain
How Do Millionaires Bank?
a woman holding a smart phone and a credit card
Alternatives to Credit Card Wire Transfers for Sending Money
banking customer depositing check with a bank teller
How Do Banks and Credit Unions Make Money?
Businessman in a city using ATM
How to Fix Problems With ACH Payments