(NAPSA)—At the end of the half of American households use month, most people wish they direct payment to pay at least one were able to save more money. recurring monthly bill, yet many While more than 90 percent of people do not realize they can use Americans say that it is important direct payment as an investment to save or invest for the future, tool. Since it is not necessary to less than a third of the country manually move payments each feels very satisfied with the time they are deposited, savings amount they are saving, according can build up without exerting any to a survey administered by SWR effort. Also, by choosing to use Research. Direct deposit and direct payment for regularly recurring transactions, condirect payment can help. Direct deposit and direct pay- sumers can easily avoid the high ment are two simple, safe and con- late fees that some lenders and venient financial tools that not only credit agencies charge for missed help families save money but are or late payments. easier to use than writing and There are more ways families depositing checks to a can use direct savings or investment People who use direct deposit to save account. money. More than 35 deposit or direct Direct deposit is percent of consumers paymentto save or the electronic transhave reported bouncinvest automatically fer of a payment ing a check simply from a company or can save almost $140 a because they could organization into an month more than those not deposit a check individual’s account. @) in time or the check who do not. Direct payment is a they deposited did predetermined, automatic elec- not clear in time. Overdraft fees tronic transfer of a payment from can be costly to families on a buda consumer’s account to that of get and direct payment anddirect another entity for regularly sched- deposit can help avoid these extra uled payments such as invest- costs. Those who opt for direct mentsor recurringbills. deposit to receive their compensaPeople who use direct payment tion have it deposited into their or direct deposit to save or invest accounts at their bank’s opening automatically may save almost of business on payday, avoiding $140 a month more than those any chance that they won’t be who donot. able to deposit their pay at the Currently more than 70 per- bankin time. cent of American workers use Consumers can rely comdirect deposit to receive their pay, pletely on the safety and security but many people do not realize of using direct deposit and direct that they can use direct deposit to payment for saving money or allocate funds to a numberof dif- paying bills. Federal Regulation ferent accounts to save automati- cally. If requested, payments can be divided routinely between a savings plan, retirement account or any other type of financial account. Using direct deposit as part of an automated savings plan allows people to “pay themselves first” and not have to think or worry about how much to save each month. Statistics show that about one- E protects consumers from any unauthorized transactions in their financial accounts. In addition, consumers retain the right to stop or reverse a paymentif there is an error or if the payment was not authorized. To learn how to take advantage of direct deposit and direct payment and save more moneyin the process, visit www.directdeposit.org or www.directpayment.org.
