MoneyWisdom Blog

If you're establishing direct deposit through your employer, ordering checks, or transferring money between financial institutions, you'll be asked to provide a routing number along with your personal account number to execute the transaction. 

A routing number is a 9-digit code identifying a financial institution, such as a credit union, bank, or investment firm. This number helps reduce confusion between financial institutions that may have similar names and allows money to flow between these institutions without glitches. Sometimes an institution may have more than one routing number depending on its size and the type of account (checking account vs. investment account, for example). 

With September coming up quickly, many big banks are offering flashy benefits for new college students. Banks create special offers, such as waiving monthly fees for a number of years or offering credit cards with cash back on certain purchases, to attract these new account holders.

But it’s important to realize that the fees don’t go away forever, many accounts have minimum balance requirements, and credit cards can come with exorbitant interest rates.

There's a solution, however. Just bring your credit union to college with you this fall!

If you're a fan of direct deposit, you know how much time it saves you: there's no running to your financial institution with a paper check in hand, hoping you'll get there to cash it before closing. You don't have to wait around for your check to clear before you pay your bills. And you'll never spend time worrying if your check got lost in the mail, or worse, stolen.

Direct deposit is dependable and simply makes life easier. But did you know direct deposit can also help you build wealth? Here's how:

Receiving your first paycheck at your first job is a rite of passage into adulthood. It feels good to look at that piece of paper and know that you earned the income it represents. Your hard work means you have money to spend as you like!

In the past, there was only one way to cash that check: You signed the back and brought it into your financial institution, where it might take a few days to clear before you got your money.

Today, there are multiple ways to cash your first payroll check...and you don't even have to wait for the check to clear with some of them! Here's how:

Back in the day, I got a paper paycheck every Thursday from my employer. It was the highlight of my week, for sure. What wasn’t fun was depositing my check. I had to scoot directly from work so I could get to the bank before it closed.

If I ran late, it meant waiting two more days before I could make a deposit. Then I had to stand in line with everyone else on Saturday morning. I definitely had better things to do.

April 15th is fast approaching, and like millions of Americans, you may be using a software program like TurboTax or H&R Block to prepare your tax return. You may also be using accounting software like Quicken for Home and Business or QuickBooks to keep your accounts in order and still entering your checking and savings transactions manually throughout the year. Here's a step-by-step guide that'll show you how to download your Hanscom Federal Credit Union transactions, which you can then export quickly and easily into your software programs. All you need is a computer with Internet access and your Online Access HD credentials. Ready?

We have a full suite of banking products and services to help you reach your financial goals and simplify saving.

We typically think of a checking account as a tool to help us manage the ho-hum aspects of our daily financial lives: we use it write checks for the babysitter, to get cash from the ATM at lunchtime, and to pay for groceries after work. We don't usually think of our checking accounts as something that can save us – or make us – money. But maybe we should rethink our checking. 

It’s tax season and a new scam involving stolen data from tax professionals, fraudulent tax filings, and erroneous checking account deposits has law enforcement and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on high alert.

Here’s how the scam works and what to do if a mysterious tax refund appears in your checking account or mailbox.