Multiple Bank Accounts: Get Your Finances Organized!

Believe me, it’s always good to have multiple bank accounts! Since the Philippine Business Bank (PBB) Campus Savers account back in college, I’ve been accustomed to trusting banking systems with my range of personal savings goals. Obsessed then with plastic wallet fillers, I have had short-term deposit accounts with almost all Philippine local banks – PBB, BPI, BDO, Metrobank, and Chinabank among others.

Soon I have realized the real advantages of maintaining savings accounts – security and asset protection, source of emergency fund, peace of mind, and a little deposit interest. On top of these though are even more advantages upon having multiple bank accounts, all at once.

Multiple Savings Goals. It’s imperative to maintain multiple bank accounts whenever we have multiple savings goals – summer vacation and travel, gadget purchase, down payment on a house or a car, grad school tuition, marriage proposal, and others – all require dedicated accounts for easier tracking of progress and for a more committed financial management. As psychology affirms, when we have goals to guide us, we become happier and achieve more than what we would without them.

Spread Risks. In the Philippines, deposit insurance (PDIC) covers a maximum of PHP 500,000.00 per depositor in case a bank goes into bankruptcy. Hence, when we have a huge amount of money, say amounting to millions, it’s safer to distribute it across multiple bank accounts. Likewise, maintaining multiple bank accounts can save you from hassle and stress particularly when banking system glitches and other cases of inconvenience pop up.

Better Interest Rates and Perks. Most payroll accounts aren’t interest-bearing. That being the case, additional savings accounts can somehow save us an opportunity for our hard-earned money to grow. Aside from meager interest, access to other products and services such as loan packages and cashback rewards can also be among other perks available upon maintaining multiple bank accounts.

Organized Personal Finances. Maintaining multiple bank accounts makes a lot of sense especially for individuals who manage and struggle making a stretch of the household budget. Married couples, for instance, usually have joint savings accounts, but also maintain separate checking accounts for daily transactions on the side.

Single millennials, on the other hand, also need multiple bank accounts – a high-yield savings account for building an emergency fund, a checking account for daily transactions, and another optional account for a special purpose.

Notwithstanding the many advantages of maintaining multiple bank accounts, there are still a few critical factors worth considering including our capacity to maintain at least the minimum balance requirements, likelihood of missing a good interest, and difficulty managing multiple account login credentials (for online accounts) among others.

To date, I maintain at least three bank accounts. I have a payroll account with Metrobank (PHP ET Savings) which I also use for daily transactions such as bills payment, online purchases, and direct fund transfer to my stock investment account. Also, I shoot a regular stash to my Bank of Commerce Savings Account Plus for about six months of living expenses (emergency fund) and sometimes roll over for investment capital (stock investment). Lastly, I have a slightly dormant ATM Savings account with Development Bank of the Philippines for my grad school fund.