Mobile banking is still a fairly new technology. More and more people are now using their mobile devices to check their balances, make payments and do everything else that we’re used to doing online: so are there any reasons for caution, any more so than there would be were you doing your online banking via a home or laptop computer?
The short answer is “not really”. Mobile internet technology is as robust now as broadband technology and thanks to hugely improved download and upload speeds (in urban and metropolitan areas, not so much in the country) works at a similar pace. That said of course there are always people willing to invest in technology designed to overcome normal safety routines and extract your critical information – and with mobile banking that’s a little easier to do because the end user is not yet as familiar with the technology.
A mobile banking app, for example, that doesn’t come from your banker at all but from a nefarious person looking for your numbers and passwords, can be constructed to mimic the app your use to bank online. The only way you can be sure that you are protected from app theft is by downloading the sole official banking app used by your bank. For help with this go to your bank’s own website and don’t get the app from any other source.
Keeping your information safe in the usual ways is still a must. Password protect your phone so it locks automatically whenever it is not being used. And remember to log out of your banking app as soon as you have finished using it, every time. Closing your connection to the internet in this way helps to ensure that no tenacious tracking programs are able to worm their way into your accounts.
Be sure, too, that you are aware of exactly what your bank promises to do in the event that someone is able to steal from you through your mobile banking system. Some banks have undertaken to automatically provide 100% refunds in cases where their mobile apps are used by unauthorised persons. Other banks require more burden of proof. Either way you need to know how you are protected in order to feel properly secure while you are using the app in question.
If your phone is stolen, report it immediately and find out how to wipe it remotely. A remote wipe of your phone will remove all data added to the phone by you, restoring it instead to its original factory settings. Your phone provider should be able to do this for you.
Talking of phone providers: find out what protective measures are in place as part of your contract. The company that sells you your phone will normally include protection in your contract price – or will offer you differing levels of protection for different add-on prices.
Never do online mobile banking when you are connected to an unencrypted Wi Fi hotspot. Use the connection provided by your mobile phone company instead. This is secure.
Follow the same basic privacy protection guidelines you do when using your PC or laptop. If you receive a text message or email requesting your online banking details, it is always fraudulent. No bank would ever ask you to send it confirmation of your passwords or security numbers, ever. In all cases where you receive communications purporting to be from your bank that ask for any action on your part, call your bank directly first to check that the email or text message is genuine.
And lastly, of course, never let anyone else know your passwords or security numbers. Don’t keep them written down anywhere in an obvious format. If you must have them around as an aid to memory, devise a robust disguise for them. My friend keeps her information in an address book – she uses house numbers and postcodes for the security numbers and has a complicated arrangement of house names and street names as code for her passwords!
Mobile banking – indeed all mobile internet use – is not really any different from the web you’re used to. The screen is smaller, so sites have been reformatted to make your experience the same: but security is identical.
About the Author:
The above article is composed and edited by Michelle Bewitt. She is associated with many SEO and Technologies communities as their freelance writer and adviser. In her free time she writes articles related to seo, social media, dongles etc.
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