Tip one: Check, check, and check again. When you go to the bank to make a deposit you fill in your account number, and information about yourself, and your deposit amount. Before giving the deposit slip to the cashier, check the numbers on everything. Make sure you wrote down the right amount of the deposit. Do your math a few times. Make sure you wrote down the correct account number. Then let the cashier or banker make the deposit for you. Then, check the receipt that they give you. Check the account number, or partial account number listed, and make sure it matches up with your account. In addition, make sure that the amount recorded as deposited is correct. It is usually automated, in a computer, but a human enters in the numbers, and human error is common. So, check the receipt they give you. Lastly, when you return home from the bank, check your online account to ensure that the deposit posted, and for the correct amount. Problems are easier to fix if they are caught immediately.

Tip two: Keep your receipts, check stubs, etc. If you ever do run into a problem at your bank, you want all the proof you can have to back up your claim. If a deposit never posts to your account, for example, you want to make sure that you can show them the receipt for the day, time, and amount that you deposited. You want to have your paycheck stub to verify amounts, you want to have as much proof as you can. Because money often brings out the worst in people, your bank is going to want to ensure that you are not trying to pull one over on them. The more you have to show your side the better. So, keep an envelope in your car to put ALL bank receipts in, and keep them in order.

Tip three: Use your online banking options. Problems often occur because of human error, so the fewer humans involved, often the better. For example, if you mail a check to pay a bill, your check may get lost in the mail, may get entered into the system incorrectly, may be filled out wrong, etc. If you were to pay the same bill over a bill pay program on the computer, you create a trail of proof of when you paid the bill, what account number it was sent to, when it was sent, how much, etc. So, if your bank offers an online payment system, then take advantage of it, but do it manually each month, instead of automatic, as this helps you ensure that you do not accidentally make payments you do not need to, etc.

The more vigilant you are about checking, rechecking, and staying on top of your finances, the less likely you are to have a banking problem. If you know how much you have at all times, and the bank accidentally deposits someone else's money into your account, you are not going to spend it and be in trouble when they realize their mistake and pull the money back out.