Online Banking Tips
Tue May 16, 2006 10:58AM EDT
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Do you hold your breath every time you do an online banking transaction? Or have you steered clear of it entirely?
Lots of us—58 percent—will be doing our banking online by the end of this year. But adoption of online banking is slowing, according to a study by the eMarketer research firm, because customers are becoming more, not less, concerned about security.
eMarketer predicts online banking will grow by only 4 percent to 62 percent of American households between now and 2010. During the same period, the percentage of homes with Internet access is expected to jump from 78 percent to 90 percent.
The banking industry is well aware of this disconnect between Web use and comfort with online banking. The federal government has responded with new guidelines calling for banks and other financial institutions to add "two-factor authentication" by the end of 2006.
That means if your bank doesn't have more than one security hurdle to pass, in addition to an ID and password, you are wise to forgo online banking. My bank has a SiteKey, an image and phrase I chose that must be there every time I log in so I know it is not a phony bank site.
Some other tips from the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation):
• Be on the lookout for copycat Web sites that look like your bank's but are not. One mistyped key can you land you on one, and they are designed to get you to give up personal information.
• Do not respond to email questions from what appears to be your financial institution requesting account information. These phishing scams often claim to be your credit card company, too.
• A simple one: Verify your bank is a legitimate one and your deposits are insured by the FDIC.
Are you wary of online banking or comfortable your transactions are secure?
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2 Posted by jdtipke on Sat Feb 10, 2007 11:54AM EST Report Abuse
Although I agree with you that the local restuarant is a risk, I do not think it's paranoid at all to worry about the banks online security. I have accounts at a few major banks and it is incredible to see the different in security and usuabilty of their programs. WAMU for instance was down for about 3 days late last year. It certainly makes wme wonder whether their system is secure or not, let alone worth using.
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1 Posted by johnebrennan on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:38PM EDT Report Abuse
I think people are crazy to be concerned about paying bills with liegitimate banks. We are a society that is hypocritically paranoid about Internet security. This is the same society that is comfortable giving a credit card to a waiter who walks away with it only to run it through a computer and bring it back for our signature. We feel that is acceptable, yet the media freaks out about every little story about Internet security threats. We are all hypocrites and should be ashamed!!!