The holidays are supposed to be joyous but worries over money, fraud and time constraints can turn the happiest time of the year into an ordeal. Today we want to talk about some tools we offer to make your season brighter.

First of all, we think it’s important for you to know what’s happening with your money at all times. That’s why we give you a multitude of account alerts to help you know where your money is going, how much you have and even when payments are due. With Account Alerts, you can receive a text every time your debit card is used, when your balance falls below an amount of your choosing or when your loan payment is due. This is an easy way to stop fraud in its tracks because you’ll know when purchases are happening and be able to quickly spot any that aren’t yours.

Account alerts can be set up through your online banking account and are a free service. Click here to see the full list of account alerts. 

Along the lines of awareness and security, VCNB Mobile is another easy way to manage your money and your cards. With VCNB Mobile, you can monitor your transactions, transfer funds and pay bills on the go. You can also manage your VCNB debit cards with geographic and monetary spending limitations. Best of all, you can even turn your cards off and on, ensuring that they can only be used when you say it’s ok. Read more about this exciting feature of VCNB Mobile here.

With VCNB Mobile, you can also use the camera on your mobile device to deposit a check with Mobile Deposit. It might save you a trip to the bank which gives you more time for what’s important to you. And who couldn’t use more free time this holiday season?  Learn more about this free service here.

Speaking of being busy, there’s no busier time of year than the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. With all the shopping, baking, gift wrapping and cleaning, there is hardly time left for the family functions, work parties and tons of special events. Many of these activities call for a good bit of spending. Be it for groceries and gifts, travel expenses or dinners out, there is seemingly unlimited opportunity to spend money.

As long as you’re spending, we think you should be rewarded. That’s why we offer VCNB Rewards Checking customers and Visa Platinum credit card customers the opportunity to earn UChoose Rewards® Points for their daily purchases and bank behaviors. For example, Visa Platinum customers receive one point for every dollar spent using this card. These points can be redeemed for gift cards, event tickets, travel expenses and thousands of products.

Rewards Checking customers receive one point for every $3 spent using their debit card and bonus points for using bank products like direct deposit, Mobile Deposit and Popmoney® personal payment service. These points can be redeemed for cash back or for any of the great rewards offered to our credit card customers. If you already have Rewards Checking or a Visa Platinum card, remember that you must register your card at UChooseRewards.com to begin earning rewards points.

One last thing – if you need to send someone cash, Popmoney is the way to go. Learn more here.

We wish all our customers a joyous holiday season and hope these products will simplify and brighten your holidays.