Kent Kristensen | How to Keep Your Bank Accounts Secure

Online banking has made personal finance management easy and convenient. Online banking security, however, is far from being a fool-proof system-especially in this day and age of technology. Conducting banking transactions online comes with certain risks. Not only do you hear of ATM cards being cloned or people being robbed at ATM terminals, but an online account is also another point of vulnerability you should be vigilant about. Safe online banking should be a concerted effort between you and your bank. Here are some tips to help keep your online banking accounts secure:

Choose an account that offers multiple-step authentication. Two-factor verification may seem like a nuisance, but it does provide another layer of protection as unique codes are generated every time a login attempt is made. This code is valid only for a short period of time and is needed, along with your basic login credentials to provide access to your online account.

Use a strong password. The early online world did require passwords. In the past, just about any word, phrase, or combination of characters would do to protect your account from unauthorized access. Today, however, weak passwords are a recipe for disaster, theft and online fraud. You want to create passwords that follow online banking security guidelines such as a long string of upper and lower-case letters, numerals, and special characters that will be extremely difficult to decode even by machines and software programs. Your answers to standard security questions don’t have to be real answers-you can make up responses that only you have knowledge about.

Keep your computers and devices secure and up-to-date. Safe online banking is also a matter of general computer safety. Keep your firewall up and secure your computers and devices with strong antivirus software. This will keep you protected from key loggers, Trojans, and other such forms of malware that can make you vulnerable to financial data breaches and other security holes.

Don’t click through emails. Suspicious looking emails are one thing, but fraudulent emails that look like the real thing are also widespread online. Always verify with your bank whenever receiving emails that pertain to your financial information. Avoid clicking through links that you are unsure about and be vigilant about emails attempting to trick you into willingly handing your personal information and financial credentials over, such as taking you to pages that look exactly like your bank’s website to steal your information, and ultimately your money.

Safe online banking should be a concerted effort between you and your bank. Here are some tips to help keep your online banking accounts secure.

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