Do you have an online bank account that you use on a regular basis? Chances are good that if you have a bank account that you have access to an online form of that account. This means that your information is going to be available to you on the Internet and that you have to protect your money as best you can. While the bank will protect its systems, what can you do to add security to your account?
The best thing to do is to have a password that is unique and has varied characters. Don’t use a password like 1234 because that is the first thing that a criminal is going to think of when they try to randomly think of a password to try. Use a password that has numbers, letters and symbols if possible. This will keep your account extra secure and allow you to have total control over your account at all times.
Make sure to change your password every so often so that you are keeping your trail to a minimum. Someone might have knowledge of your password without your knowing it. Changing your password not only keeps those watching you off your electronic trail, but it will force you to keep track of the security of your account.
Look at your account information online and verify it against any paper statements or spreadsheet accounting that you do at home. This will allow you to catch any discrepancies and allow you to contact the bank. It might end up being your own mistake, but at least you will know that no one has accessed your account without your knowledge.
Always log out when you are done using your account. While most banks will have an automatic time-out feature that will log you off after a certain amount of inactivity, you should make sure that you are logging out when you are done. This will ensure that no one is able to see what your account numbers are or hop on and make a transfer while you are away from the computer.
Keeping your account secure is very important for the security of your money and making sure that you have no problems banking on-line. The banks will help you out in keeping your accounts secure, but you should do your part and make sure no one has a chance to access your financial information.