As identity theft and hacking become more common, some people are worrying about their online bank accounts. I had never thought about setting up any Alerts for my Tangerine account but someone else I knew mentioned they had, so I thought I’d take a look. What can I get Tangerine to warn me about for my savings and chequing accounts by an email alert?

What Can I Set a Tangerine Alert to Tell Me?

If you have bank accounts with Tangerine, you can set an alert to tell you information in the following categories.

Statement and receipt alerts

• Send me a summary of my Accounts’ activities each month.
• Tell me when I have a new statement or tax receipt ready.

Balance alerts

• Let me know if my bank account balance drops below a certain amount.
• Let me know if my balance goes over a certain amount.

You can select to which accounts these limits apply.

Deposit alerts

Tell me

• If a direct deposit is made.
• If a deposit is made for more than a certain amount.

You can select to which accounts these limits apply.

Withdrawal alerts

Tell me

• If a withdrawal is made for more than a certain amount.
• You can select to which accounts this limit applies.

Debit and pre-authorized payment alerts

Tell me

• If a debit purchase or ABM withdrawal is made from my account for more than a certain amount.
• A pre-authorized payment is taken.
• A pre-authorized payment does NOT go through.

You can select to which accounts these rules apply.

Which Tangerine Alerts Should I Set Up to Help Detect Fraud?

I’m not a security expert, but I think I will set up a few Alerts to tell me:

• If my balance drops below my usual level.
• If a large withdrawal is made from any of my accounts.
• If any debits or ABM withdrawals are made, or pre-authorized payments are taken.

I can always discard email that is just warning me about what I myself just did. It would be nice to know quickly if someone just cleaned out my account!

Setting Up An Email Security Alert from Tangerine

1. Sign in to your Tangerine bank accounts.
2. From the list down the left side of the screen, click on:  My info and options.
3. Click on: Manage my Orange Alerts.
4. Click to check the box to select where they will send your Alerts. You can choose to
   Send alerts as notifications to my mobile device(s)
   Send alerts to my email address (change email)
   I don’t have a cell phone, only an emergency phone, so I only selected to get email alerts.
   If you choose to send alerts to your mobile devices, it will list any devices to which you have downloaded the Tangerine App!

Choosing Your Email Alerts for Your Tangerine Accounts

Now, I can choose my actual email Alerts.

For Balance Alerts

1. I clicked to select the check box beside
   My balance drops below
2. Then changed the $ amount in the text box to suit my usual account balance.
3. I clicked on Show Accounts to select my Chequing Account and my Savings Account.

It’s a bit annoying that I can’t set a different limit for each of those types of accounts.

For Withdrawal Alerts

1. I clicked to select the check box beside
   A withdrawal is made for more than
2. And typed the $ amount in the text box to say $20.
3. I clicked on Show Accounts to select my Chequing Account and my Savings Account.

For Debit and pre-authorized payment alerts

1. I clicked to select the check box beside
   A debit purchase or ABM withdrawal is made from my Account for more than
2. Then changed the $ amount in the text box to exceed my usual transaction size.
3. I clicked on Show Accounts to select my Chequing Account and my Savings Account.
4. I clicked to select the check box beside
   A pre-authorized payment is taken.
5. I clicked on Show Accounts to select my Chequing Account and my Savings Account.

Making It All Happen

1. To update all of these changes, I clicked on the Submit button.
2. The message
   Your Alert settings have been saved successfully.
   was displayed.
3. I clicked on Close to dismiss it.
4. I clicked on Log me out.
5. I closed my browser session and so on to protect my security.

Do I feel much safer? No. I really doubt my account will ever get hacked. But it was only a few seconds to set up the Alerts so it’s worth my time in case it ever did help detect fraud.

Related Reading

• Why I Would Open a Teen’s First Bank Account for a Debit Card at Tangerine
• How to Open a Tangerine Chequing Account Using the Canada Post ID Verification Process

Join In
Do you have Alerts set to help secure your online bank account? Have you ever received an Alert that warned you of something fraudulent? Please share your experiences with a comment.