It used to be a hassle to transfer funds between bank accounts. If you owed someone money or were giving them a monetary gift, you would have to either write them a check or give them cash. This means that the receiver would have to go to the bank, deposit the check or cash, and wait for the deposit to clear. This could take several days and if the money was needed right away, it would be extremely inconvenient.

But those days are no more – with online checking accounts, transferring funds between personal checking accounts has never been easier. More and more banking is done online today. You may even currently use online accounts to keep track of deposits and withdrawals, pay bills and balance your checkbook. But have you taken advantage of how easy it is to transfer funds with online checking accounts? Most banks let you transfer money free between accounts in the same bank, and charge a small fee to transfer to other banks’ accounts.

All you have to do is enter certain information about the other person’s account online, such as the routing and account number. Then you are free to transfer funds to the account with a few clicks of the mouse. The money takes a short time to process compared with the traditional method of sending a check or cash. Using online checking accounts to transfer funds has numerous advantages beyond the time factor. It is ideal for individuals who are far away from each other, like across the US. There is no need to mail a check and increase the wait even more.

Also, there is no way someone can view your account online when they are transferring money to you, so you can retain your privacy. You can choose to send small or large amounts – check with your individual bank to see if there are any limits to the amount sent or the frequency of transfers. Say you are a parent who has a child away at college. They call needing money for an emergency. Mailing a check takes way too long, and wire transfers can be expensive and aren’t guaranteed. The perfect thing to do in that situation is to transfer funds with online checking accounts. This also works for sending money for birthdays, Christmas, Hanukkah, and more. Or say you’re out shopping with a friend and you’ve forgotten your wallet. You can pay your friend back right when you get home by logging onto your account and transferring the money. There are countless ways to benefit when you transfer funds with online checking accounts.