The modern entrepreneur has a number of advantages over those of 20 or even ten years ago. Marketing has become drastically different thanks to social media, as well as powerful software systems that can integrate, categorize, and manage contacts to make your efforts more efficient.
And products today are far easier to “manufacture”; no longer does a startup have to find space and tools to build a product and hire skilled people to assemble it. The focus today is on intangible products that can be produced on a computer with very little overhead, usually right in your home.
Because you no longer need a drill press or arc welder to continue cranking out your product, you can crank from almost anywhere that you can find available Wi-Fi. That frees you up for more traveling, provides options when you experience problems like a power failure at home, and stimulates the creative juices by letting you log a day’s work from a local park or simply out by your pool.
Mobile banking even allows you to take care of financial transactions on the fly, and if you adopt this method you’ll soon learn about the benefits of mobile banking. Here are a few points worth considering if you’re considering doing financial work on a smartphone or laptop.
Quicker Detection of Problems
Mobile banking permits you to see what’s happening in your accounts just as quickly as a teller or customer service rep can do so. That allows you to stop fraudulent transactions quickly and prevent additional ones.
Most credit card number thefts begin with a small purchase, just a couple of dollars, by the thief, to make sure the number is valid. If you see that $2.36 on your account in a city hundreds of miles from you, you can act quickly to stop the card’s activity and save yourself a great deal of hassle later on.
With so many methods of automatic payment used today, it can also be easy to forget a scheduled transaction. That could nudge you uncomfortably close to your credit limit or an overdraft. It’s far better to take a regular look at account activity and make sure you’re current on where money is going before you make a mistake.
Safer Operation
That begs the question of whether mobile banking is safe. While the FDIC has its concerns, there is nothing about mobile banking safety that is drastically different from online safety in general. You use smart passwords, you keep up with your phone, and you watch for unexpected activity. It’s just like your email or social media accounts.
Using a mobile app to deal with your bank or your credit card is actually safer than via a laptop. Your phone is on your person or in your purse at all times, whereas a laptop can’t make a restroom stop with you and won’t walk in at the gas station to grab a cup of coffee. Additionally, phones utilize data connections that are secured through your phone, rather than the free Wi-Fi at a fast food restaurant.
So not only is a swiping, scrolling banking method faster, it’s also considerably less vulnerable to hackers and theft.
Easier Recordkeeping
Whether it’s business expenses appearing on your credit card or checking account, the best time to categorize them is when you first incur them. Waiting on a monthly statement to analyze how to categorize them for accounting purposes is just an invitation for mistakes.
Instead, you can utilize mobile banking to view expenses as they post to your account, and quickly record a breakdown on each expenditure regarding its purpose, amount, and destination. That’s a big time saver when it’s time to take care of corporate taxes.
Going Greener
As a devoted mobile banking user can attest, it’s a nice thing to see less paperwork accumulating in the mailbox. Statements from checking and credit card accounts will stop cluttering your office as you begin to transfer data from mobile banking apps to your own storage in your accounting software or spreadsheets.
That eliminates the occasional chore of shredding documents and the subsequent (often messy) chore of dumping the shredded paper.
A greener business not only saves money but also adds a marketing angle that provides extra appeal to many clients and customers.
Mobile banking use requires the same attention to detail and security that any other online transaction requires, and it carries the added benefit of greater efficiency and easier management. As features and apps are developed, many entrepreneurs will join the ranks of mobile banking users.
Article contributed by Jenna Smith
