For many years, cash or check was the universal way for people to make purchases. In the last few decades, however, our society has shifted toward debit and credit cards as more convenient, secure, and reliable ways to spend. While many credit card companies offer tempting incentives and rewards, it is best to avoid them if trying to stick to your budget and savings goals. Using a debit card is our recommended method of spending to help you save.
Here’s how using a debit card can help you save:
Avoid Overspending
There are ways to use credit cards wisely, but it’s just too easy to rack up astronomical balances that then become a burden. If you have credit card debt that you are trying to manage, this article about payoff strategies may be useful.
Purchases on a debit card are usually processed immediately, and a real-time transaction log is accessible through the Bank OZK mobile banking app*. For most people, this is significantly more helpful than keeping track of checks and figuring out when payments may be debited from their accounts.
Tracking your purchases on a debit card versus a credit card has an added psychological benefit. After making a purchase on your debit card, you will see your account balance go down, which signals to you to be mindful of your budget and gives you a sense of what you have left to spend for that pay period.
Track Your Spending
Saving money becomes much easier with a debit card when you can keep an eye on all withdrawals from your checking account. A weekly or monthly review of your spending habits might tip you off to areas where you’re spending more than you expected. You might be surprised to learn how your hard-earned money is spent unnoticed. This gives you the opportunity to set some parameters around spending on certain discretionary categories and shift those dollars into savings instead.
Round Up Your Debit Purchases into Savings
An added bonus for Bank OZK debit cardholders is My Change Keeper.** By selecting this feature, you have a few options for using your debit card purchases to help you build your savings:
- Opt to have your debit card purchases rounded up to the next highest dollar amount, and the difference will be deposited into your Bank OZK savings account. For example, a $5.25 purchase will be rounded up to $6, and $0.75 will be automatically transferred to your savings account.
- Select the first option plus an additional dollar amount to be added to each transaction. For example, if your purchase is $5.25 and you select to have an additional $1 per transaction added to savings, then you will be charged $7, and $1.75 will be transferred to your savings account.
- Specify a dollar amount between $1 and $5 that you want to be transferred to savings every time you swipe your debit card. For example, if your purchase is $5.25 and you want $2 added to savings every time you make a debit card purchase, you will be charged $7.25, and $2 will be transferred to your savings account.
When prioritizing savings and working to stay on budget, using a debit card allows you to spend wisely and, with Bank OZK, gives you the chance to accelerate your savings.
* Mobile features require enrollment in Mobile and Online Banking. Availability may be affected by your mobile carrier’s coverage area. Carrier data charges may apply. Online Banking requires enrollment.
** Terms and conditions apply.
