You heard it right! Most of us own a bank account - a debit card,
cheque book, even a passbook.
Yeah, so what? Do we really use our bank
account independently?
Did you know less than 30% of finance account holders are
Women? According to a study by World Bank, only 26% of Indian women have an
account with a formal financial institution (a bank, a credit union, a
co-operative, post office or a microfinance institution) compared to 46% of men.
To clarify, this article does not discuss when women received the
right to inherit property and open bank accounts? Rather, it discusses why and
how you should take over such huge responsibilities such as holding a debit
card or cash a cheque instead of delegating them to someone in your family.
Example 1:
My friend tried to withdraw money from her salaried account
to buy a gift for another friend. It came as a shock to her when her bank
account showed zero balance. We had just received our salaries and pay slips,
so she thought her salary may not be debited correctly and checked with the
Accounts department. Later, she informed me that a call to her husband confirmed
that he had wiped off the last penny in her account the same day her salary got
credited. Her husband worked as the Branch Manager in one of the leading
automobile’s sales offices in Chennai. Still, he did not think it necessary to
inform his wife that he had withdrawn money from her account.
Example 2:
This is another colleague’s sad love story. A perfect
wedding followed by a whirlwind romance, they decided to part ways and went for
a mutually agreed divorce procedure. They had a opened a joint account for the
benefit of their only child. Her husband had conveniently withdrawn huge
amounts of money from the account over time. Now, her son is forced to abandon
his dream and pursue another discipline due to lack of money.
You may have come across similar occurrences, may be a
friend, colleague, a relative or an acquaintance faced issues because of broken
trust. Rather than blaming the person or the society, I would say that we as
women should draw the line at the first indication that the bank account is
independently owned and not be dependent on a family member, be a father,
brother, or your husband.
If you have not started using your bank account independently till now, start
doing so.
Its important that you start doing asap.
Here are some major reasons why you should not handover bank
accounts to another person:
- Your Bank Net banking Password has changed (someone forgot to inform you :() and you do not have your registered mobile number to reset it.
- Emergency situations (Consider, you want to make an urgent cash/ATM withdrawal but you do not have the debit card.)
- Increases your self-respect.
Be it riding a bike, self-driving a car, or using your bank account, you get the same thrill J
Self-Owned Accounts Vs Joint Accounts
It is important that you should NOT share your bank accounts or account details with
another person.
Simply said, your account may not add value if it is managed by two people. Would you be happy to report to two managers? Self-owned
accounts are better managed than shared accounts.
Sharing of PIN numbers, net banking passwords, and other
secret information is like locking your house and placing the key under the
doormat. If your relative brings up trust as a weapon to break this rule, throw
the ball into their court informing that if they trust you well they would not
want to manage your bank account. You can always withdraw money or write a
cheque if they need your money.
Always ensure that your money flows through you, not
bypasses you J.
If you do not own a bank account, open one now and…
Remember, do not share the account details with anyone.
Keep Smiling!
Be independent.
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