How to Protect Your Online Bank Account
We've all heard a cashier say, "credit or debit," when making a purchase at a store.
We usually make our decision based on what is most convenient for us which may be adding to our existing credit card balance or paying with our bank balance.
Security on the other hand is usually not something that crosses our mind when we make this decision.
Security Breaches It is not completely unheard of for a cashier's register, with credit or debit card information, to be compromised.
It has happened before & will undoubtedly happen in the the future as hackers become more & more sophisticated.
Controlling Security Breaches To be quite honest, you have very little control in preventing breaches other than never using your credit or debit cards.
However, you can control which cards you use.
Using a Debit Card Can Be Risky When you use your debit card to purchase a product, you are giving a potential hacker direct access to your entire bank account & all of the funds that go along with it.
With a credit card on the other hand, the account is not in any way linked to your actual funds in your bank account.
So, the liability is significantly reduced by using your credit card.
Debit Cash Back Rewards Programs Are Enticing But Not Worth the Risk Several banks offer cash back and other rewards programs based on debit card use.
Although they are enticing, the security risks are still higher than credit cards and the reward benefits with a credit card can be just as beneficial.
Username, Password & Email Address Use Smart username & password use is almost, if not as important as debit card use.
With the growing advances in technology & the increasing use of web-based services, hackers now have more opportunities than before to obtain personal banking information.
Here's an example.
Let's say you signup for a web-based service or social network with a username, password or email address that is also used for your online banking.
If that service has a security breach, then a hacker can easily use your username, password & or email address information to login to your bank account.
We understand that it is most convenient to use one username, password or email address combination for everything but, the most confidential information you have online (i.
e.
banking) should not be linked in any way to another service.
We suggest you start to get secure today by setting up unique username, password & email addresses for your online banking.
We usually make our decision based on what is most convenient for us which may be adding to our existing credit card balance or paying with our bank balance.
Security on the other hand is usually not something that crosses our mind when we make this decision.
Security Breaches It is not completely unheard of for a cashier's register, with credit or debit card information, to be compromised.
It has happened before & will undoubtedly happen in the the future as hackers become more & more sophisticated.
Controlling Security Breaches To be quite honest, you have very little control in preventing breaches other than never using your credit or debit cards.
However, you can control which cards you use.
Using a Debit Card Can Be Risky When you use your debit card to purchase a product, you are giving a potential hacker direct access to your entire bank account & all of the funds that go along with it.
With a credit card on the other hand, the account is not in any way linked to your actual funds in your bank account.
So, the liability is significantly reduced by using your credit card.
Debit Cash Back Rewards Programs Are Enticing But Not Worth the Risk Several banks offer cash back and other rewards programs based on debit card use.
Although they are enticing, the security risks are still higher than credit cards and the reward benefits with a credit card can be just as beneficial.
Username, Password & Email Address Use Smart username & password use is almost, if not as important as debit card use.
With the growing advances in technology & the increasing use of web-based services, hackers now have more opportunities than before to obtain personal banking information.
Here's an example.
Let's say you signup for a web-based service or social network with a username, password or email address that is also used for your online banking.
If that service has a security breach, then a hacker can easily use your username, password & or email address information to login to your bank account.
We understand that it is most convenient to use one username, password or email address combination for everything but, the most confidential information you have online (i.
e.
banking) should not be linked in any way to another service.
We suggest you start to get secure today by setting up unique username, password & email addresses for your online banking.
