Account Alerts & Notifications

Application Steps

Setting up Valley First account alerts takes under five minutes — log into online banking, navigate to the alerts settings panel, choose your alert types and delivery methods, and confirm your contact details.

Account alerts put your finances on autopilot by notifying you the moment something happens rather than waiting for you to check. A low-balance alert can prevent overdrafts. A large-transaction alert can catch fraudulent charges before they multiply. A deposit-confirmation alert reassures you that a paycheck or tax refund has arrived without repeatedly logging in to check. Valley First alerts cover over a dozen trigger events, each configurable with custom thresholds and delivery preferences.

To set up alerts, log into Valley First online banking or open the mobile app and navigate to Settings, then Alerts & Notifications. The panel lists every alert type available for your accounts. For each alert, you can toggle it on or off, set threshold values where applicable, and choose how you want to be notified — SMS text message, email, mobile push notification, or secure message within online banking. You can set different delivery methods for different alert types. Most members complete setup in under five minutes.

Balance and Transaction Alerts

Balance alerts notify you when your account crosses a high or low threshold you set, while transaction alerts flag debits, deposits, or purchases above a dollar amount you define.

Low-balance alerts are among the most useful. Set a threshold — say $200 — and Valley First sends a notification the moment your available balance drops below that amount. This gives you time to transfer funds or delay a purchase before an overdraft occurs. Members who maintain multiple accounts can set the alert once and apply it to all eligible checking and savings accounts. A companion high-balance alert is available for members who want to know when excess funds have accumulated in a low-yield checking account and could be moved to a higher-yield savings or CD.

Transaction alerts provide real-time awareness of account activity. A debit alert triggers for any withdrawal — ATM, debit card purchase, ACH payment, or check — above a dollar amount you specify. Many members set this at $0 so they receive an alert for every transaction, providing a running ledger of account activity that makes unauthorized charges immediately obvious. Deposit alerts confirm when direct deposits, wire transfers, or check deposits post to your account. A declined-transaction alert tells you when a payment was rejected due to insufficient funds, so you can address the issue before the merchant attempts the charge again.

Card-not-present alerts flag online, phone, or mail-order purchases where the physical card was not swiped. These transactions carry higher fraud risk, and an alert gives you the chance to confirm or dispute the charge within minutes. Members can also set foreign-transaction alerts that trigger whenever a purchase processes in a currency other than U.S. dollars, which is useful for catching international fraud or confirming that a legitimate foreign purchase went through.

Security and Account Management Alerts

Security alerts notify you instantly of login attempts, password changes, contact information updates, and new device registrations to your Valley First online banking profile.

Security alerts are mandatory — they cannot be turned off. Every Valley First member receives automatic notifications for critical account events: a login from a new device or browser, a password change, an update to the email address or phone number on file, and a failed login attempt after multiple incorrect password entries. These alerts are delivered to the primary email address and, if configured, via SMS. Because these events can signal an account takeover attempt, they are sent regardless of alert preferences.

Members can supplement mandatory security alerts with optional ones. A profile-change alert notifies you when any account setting is modified, including mailing address, statement delivery preference, or linked external accounts. A new-payee alert triggers when you add a biller in bill pay or a recipient in the funds transfer module, which can catch fraudulent payees added to your account. A statement-ready alert tells you when your monthly e-statement is available for viewing, so you never miss reviewing your account activity.

For members who manage finances jointly with a spouse or business partner, Valley First supports alerts to multiple recipients. Each authorized user on an account can configure their own alert preferences independently. This means one person might receive text alerts for every transaction while the other receives only low-balance and security alerts by email. Joint account holders can set alerts without interfering with each other's notification preferences.

Alert Types and Delivery Methods

Alert Type	Trigger Event	SMS	Email	Push	Secure Message
Low Balance	Available balance drops below threshold	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
High Balance	Available balance exceeds threshold	Yes	Yes	Yes	Optional
Debit Transaction	Withdrawal above dollar amount	Yes	Yes	Yes	Optional
Deposit Confirmation	Direct deposit or check deposit posted	Yes	Yes	Yes	Optional
Card Not Present	Online, phone, or mail-order purchase	Yes	Yes	Yes	Optional
Foreign Transaction	Purchase in non-USD currency	Yes	Yes	Yes	Optional
Declined Transaction	Payment rejected for insufficient funds	Yes	Yes	Yes	Optional
New Device Login	Login from unrecognized device/browser	Yes*	Mandatory	Yes*	Mandatory
Password Change	Online banking password modified	Yes*	Mandatory	Yes*	Mandatory
Profile Change	Contact info or linked account updated	Optional	Optional	Optional	Mandatory
Statement Ready	Monthly e-statement available	Optional	Optional	Optional	Optional
Bill Pay Reminder	Scheduled payment processing soon	Optional	Optional	Optional	Optional
Loan Payment Due	Loan payment due within 3 days	Optional	Optional	Optional	Optional
CD Maturity	Certificate of deposit maturing in 14 days	Optional	Mandatory	Optional	Mandatory

* Available when mobile number is on file. Mandatory security alerts sent via email cannot be disabled.

Alert Best Practices

Configure alerts based on your financial habits — low-balance alerts to prevent overdrafts, transaction alerts to monitor spending, and security alerts to catch unauthorized access immediately.

The most effective alert configurations reflect your personal financial patterns. A member who keeps a tight budget might set a low-balance alert at $100 and a transaction alert for any debit above $0, giving them moment-by-moment awareness of every dollar that leaves their account. A member with substantial reserves might set a low-balance alert at $1,000 to flag when it is time to transfer from savings, and transaction alerts only for amounts above $500 to avoid notification fatigue from small daily purchases.

Security alerts deserve special attention. Valley First recommends that every member enable SMS alerts for new-device logins and password changes, even if other alerts go to email. SMS reaches you faster than email and does not depend on Wi-Fi, making it the most reliable channel for time-sensitive security notifications. If you receive a new-device-login alert that you do not recognize, call Valley First immediately at (559) 555-0142 and change your password. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau provides additional fraud-prevention resources, including steps to take if you suspect identity theft related to your financial accounts.

For business account holders, alerts can be configured per authorized user. A business owner might receive all transaction alerts above $1,000, while a bookkeeper receives only deposit-confirmation and low-balance alerts. The granularity of Valley First alert settings means each person sees only the notifications relevant to their role, reducing noise while ensuring that important events reach the right person at the right time.