System, methods, and apparatus provide account balance alerts for a mobile phone used to initiate a transaction when an account balance is close to a credit limit or close to zero or a minimum balance amount. When a consumer uses an account associated with a mobile phone to make a purchase, the account is checked to see if the purchase would result in an account balance within a predetermined threshold of the credit limit in the case of a credit account, or within a predetermined threshold of zero or a minimum balance, in the case of a debit account. If the threshold has been surpassed an account balance alert is automatically sent to the mobile phone. Since the mobile phone was just used for the transaction, the consumer is timely notified of the approach of the balance to the credit/debit limit and can take corrective action in a timely manner.