Helpful Tips To Secure Online Financial Transaction

​Think of the Internet as a public place. Don't leave your details lying around.

Making wise spending choices can help you live comfortably today and when you retire. Be a wise consumer. Wise people know that all their money belongs to God. 

Here are some tips to help you secure your online financial transaction.

Helpful tips to secure Online Financial Transaction​

​​Visit banks’ websites by typing the address into the address bar

Type the full address into the address bar in your browser. Be cautious, particularly when making payments to a bank. 

Don’t let anyone know your Bank Card Numbers, Personal Identification Numbers, security questions or passwords. ​

Never ever write your password on a sticky note or piece of paper placed on your desktop or computer. ​

Make sure the website is secured

Look for securityenabled web addresses that start with “https://.” A closed lock or padlock also indicates that the website is secure. These sites take extra measures to help secure your information.

Keep your computer/smartphone secure

Secure your computer/smartphone and keep your anti-virus software up-to-date. Running an anti-virus software will also ensure you are protected from malware that can be used to gain access to your confidential information. Also, install an anti-spam software as this will prevent junk emails from reaching you. Make sure your computer’s firewall is turned on. A firewall helps keep your personal information secure and block unauthorized communications.

Set up account notification

Some banks have notification alert facilities where they can send text messages or email notifications to alert you about certain activities in your accounts.

Always log out from your account

When you are done transacting online or if you will be away from your computer or other device, be sure that you have properly logged out from your account.

Monitor your personal accounts regularly

Regularly log-on to your accounts, check your account’s transaction history and immediately report to your bank any unauthorized or suspicious transaction/activity on your account.​

Never make a purchase or donation from unsolicited emails, banner ads, and message boards

Be wary of organizations selling or asking for donations, particularly if the deposit account given is an individual personal savings account.

Be wary of email attachments and free software from unknown sources

Don’t open or reply to unsolicited emails as this lets the sender know that your address is valid and can be used for future scams.

Create and use a strong password for all your accounts

When selecting a password, choose one that cannot be easily guessed by anyone else. Also, use different passwords for each account. Should a hacker or phisher obtain one of your passwords, at least only one will be compromised.​​

How To Create Strong Passwords

A strong password is long and contains a combination of characters (e.g., symbols, punctuation marks, numbers, and uppercase and lowercase letters). It should not contain personal information such as birthday, name of your partner or child, or your phone number. Following are steps to create a strong password that can also be easily recalled.

1. Think of a sentence or a phrase that you can easily recall. For example, “I am learning to use a strong password.”

​2. Determine its acronym (first letters of each word). In our example, it is “ialtuasp”.

3. To make your password more difficult to guess, decide which characters you wish to change to symbols or numbers. For example, you can change “i” to “1” and “a” to “@.” The result of this will be, “1@ltu@sp”.

4. Lastly, determine which characters you are going to change to uppercase. You can change the last letter “P” to uppercase. The result will be “1@ltu@sP”.

By following the above steps, you can come up with a difficult-to-guess password that is still easy to remember.