As I had mentioned before, I go online almost everyday to check on the account balance of my checking accounts. This should be a habit for every one. Three reasons come to mind: (Paranoia is not one of them.)
1. Identity theft and fraud - This is a popular topic lately, and with reason. many have fallen victims one way or another to this practice. Checking your balance almost will not prevent identity theft or fraud from happening. So why bother? Because by the time you discover the problem your account may be in the negative, with checks and payments bouncing all over the place. Checking your account balance and statements regularly may help you see something suspicious before your account overdrafts. The bank will not reimburse the money until it conducts its own inverstigation. In the meantime you are responsible for your account activity.
2. The Bank may make a mistake - Let's face it the banks are run by people. And, although most of them are computerized, the data is entered by people, and the software is also run by people. The computers are also man made, the software can become corrupted or the machines can crash at any given moment. People and the things they make are not perfect. At best they can try their best to prevent failures and mistakes, but never reach perfection. You may end up being a casualty of their accidents. Again, the bank will not reimburse anything until after it conducts its own invenstigation, until then you are responsible.
3. You may make a mistake - Although balancing a check book is simple arithmetic, sometimes we will err. We can transpose a number, or put a decimal point after the wrong didit, for example. Or you may spend more than what you thought you had in the account. Whatever the reason, if you overdraft, the bank will procede according to their protocol. You are responsible for having enough funds in you account to cover all the activity.
We can conclude that the bank has its own interest in mind, not yours. You must have your own interest in mind, and be on top of them.
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