Banking Basics

Banking Basics

Are you ready to test your knowledge about banking? This ten-question multiple-choice quiz will explore banking basics, including an overview of varying accounts and terminology. After completing all ten questions, click "What's my grade?" at the end of the quiz to see how you did.

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Which of these compounding methods will grow your savings balance the quickest?
Compounding is the process of generating income on an asset's generated earnings. In terms of a standard interest-earning savings account, compounding generates additional interest off the previously earned interest on your savings balance. Savings accounts typically offer compounding periods of daily, monthly, quarterly, or annually. Accounts that offer daily compounding will have a higher Annual Percentage Yield, or APY, than accounts offering monthly, quarterly, or annual compounding, given the same interest rate, meaning the daily compounding account will yield higher savings.

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Which of the following will not deduct money from your bank account directly?
ATMs, Debit Cards and Checks all deduct funds directly from the attached account when the transactions. Transactions made with a credit card add to your credit balance when the transaction is processed and do not impact your checking account balance.

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Money held in a bank or credit union is insured by the:
Bank accounts are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or FDIC. The standard FDIC insurance amount is $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each account ownership category. The National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF) is the federal fund created by Congress in 1970 to insure member´s deposits in federally insured credit unions. Administered by the National Credit Union Administration, the fund provides members with at least $250,000 of insurance at a federally insured credit union.

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When would you choose a money market account over a savings account?
Money market accounts provide several advantages over standard savings accounts, including writing a limited number of checks from the account every month. Money market accounts also typically come with higher minimum balance requirements, which means you have to have substantial savings before opening one. But in exchange for that higher savings balance, money market accounts typically offer a higher Annual Percentage Yield, or APY, than standard savings accounts without the same balance requirements.

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What do the 9 digits in the lower left-hand corner of your checks represent?
At the bottom of a check, you will see three groups of numbers. The first group is your routing number, the second is your account number, and the third is your check number. A routing number is used to identify the financial institution that is a party to the check transaction and indicates where the check can go to receive their funds.

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Which of the following would you not do when implementing a 'laddering strategy' for Certificates of Deposits (or Certificate) accounts?
With a CD ladder, you invest, at different intervals, equal amounts of money, in short, medium, and long-term CDs. When the first CD comes due, you reinvest the CD's proceeds in the longest-term CD available. You do the same for each CD as it becomes due. At the end of the process, all of your investments will be in long-term, higher yield CDs, but they will all come due at different intervals so that you still have regular access to a portion of your savings.

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The delay that occurs between the time a check is written and the money is deducted from your account is known as:
Check float refers to the amount of time it takes between when the check is written and when the money is actually withdrawn from your account. If you write a check to your mortgage company, your mortgage company will credit your account on the date that the check is received. But the check still needs to be processed for payment, and a withdrawal needs to be made against your account. The time between your payment and the withdrawal is called the float.

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APY stands for what?
The 'Annual Percentage Yield,' or APY, is the effective annual return rate once compounding interest is taken into account. For example, if you put $1,000 into a non-compounding account at a rate of 1.0%, the account has an APY of 1.0% or the same as the interest rate. At the end of the year, you would have $1,010 in the account. However, if you put that same $1,000 into a daily compounding account, you would have $1,010.05 at the end of the year, and the account would have an APY of 1.005%.

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The interest rate used as an index in calculating rate changes to adjustable-rate mortgages (ARM) and other variable rate short term loans is known as the:
The Prime Rate is probably the most widely used benchmark in setting home equity lines of credit rates, credit card rates, and other short-term loans. The Prime Rate is the rate that commercial banks charge their most credit-worthy customers. Credit issuers who offer HELOCs, credit cards, etc., seldom, if ever, offer customers the Prime Rate for those loans. But the interest rate they offer is typically set at several interest rate points above the Prime Rate. When the Prime Rate changes, lenders will raise their rates proportional to the Prime Rate change.

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Which of the following statements are true regarding Overdraft Protection?
Overdraft protection is a service offered by banks and credit unions that allow account holders to temporarily make purchases or pay bills in amounts that exceed the amount of money they have in those accounts. Overdraft protection accounts are often linked to other accounts you might have with that financial institution, such as a savings account. In other cases, the financial institution lends you the money to cover the overdraft. There is typically a fee associated with overdraft protection when the overdraft occurs. However, consumers typically have the right to decline overdraft protection and to have the financial institution refuse the transaction when there are insufficient funds in the account to cover it.

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