Best ways to build a lightweight balance-check feature for a web app?

Hey everyone,

I’m experimenting with a small personal web app and want to add a simple feature that lets users check a current balance or points total after logging in.

What’s the most efficient and secure way to structure this on the backend?
I’m debating whether to:

Store the value in a local database and refresh it through a PHP/Node API, or

Pull it dynamically from an external service with proper authentication.

Also wondering what’s best practice for caching or limiting requests so it doesn’t overload the server.

Would love to hear how others would approach this — especially if you’ve built something similar for dashboards or account pages.

Thanks!