uter Care: Online banking is great, if you take precautionsBy Arthur Glazer
arthur@glazerthepctech.com
POSTED: October 2, 2010 1:00 a.m.
Online banking can take the stress out of transacting with your money. You can check your balances and pay your bills from home, but depending upon which type of online bank you use, it can have its pitfalls.
Banking online, no matter what type, is as secure as your password and your Internet connection. The majority of the risk is at your end. The bank secures their end.
Next time you buy something online, look at the address bar. It will have an "s" after the http://. The "s" is for secure. Often you'll also see an icon of a padlock. This is telling you the site you are paying through is encrypted, secure and unhackable.
If you use Internet banking or even just your credit card online, make certain you have a secured connection at your end, especially if it is wireless. It needs to encrypted in one of the methods Windows offers. You should also choose your password carefully and not use the same one for all of your accounts for obvious reasons.
Don't use your address, birthday, Social Security number or dog's name either. Be original and change it on a regular basis.
Don't write it on a sticky note fastened to your monitor or on your credit card. Use a password manager like RoboForm or memorize it.
There are online-only banks like Paypal (which technically is not even a bank) and there are brick-and-mortar institutions that offer online services. Both types make it easy work with your money online, but the former has its drawbacks.
Sure you can pay for anything 24/7 from your home or hotel, but try to get help should something go wrong. Most online financial institutions, Paypal especially, offer no customer service. You are on your own in cyberspace and it gets lonely when trying to track your money.
At least if you use the services of a local bank, you can go there or call them in the morning. I like the fact they know me at my bank. Online, you are a stranger.
The biggest fault of online banking is that sites go down - both theirs and yours.
Online there are no tellers and no ATMs. Then there is the trust thing. Did that transaction really go through? The page went blank after I clicked "pay."
But I am not trying to scare you away from banking online, just to be aware of whom you are dealing with.
Many banks will let you pay your bills, or anyone for that matter, for free. You can pay them electronically in most cases or with a printed check they mail out if electronic payments are not accepted.
You can check your investments, transfer money from one of your accounts to another and even pay your mortgage from your checking account and it shows instantly.
What I like is that you have until 4 p.m. to get to the bank, but until 6 p.m. to get to your computer. If you make a payment at 5:45 p.m., it still counts as that day's payment.
Anytime you transact online, you will receive a confirmation e-mail that day. The best thing to do is scrutinize your bank statement, whether on paper or online. If there is a discrepancy, you usually have 30 days to contest it with most banks.
You need to beware of e-mail scam artists that send announcements of pending doom if you don't click the link to fix errors in your account.
If you get one of those, click nothing. They want you to fill out forms, including your account number and password. The bank knows your account number and will never ask you for your password.
Either go to your account online securely or call them to see if there is anything wrong. Then report the e-mail.
So you need to watch for scammers; nothing new. If you are banking online, you are safe but need to take a few things into consideration. If bill-paying via the Internet, find out if your utility accepts electronic payments. If not, you need to allow for a check to be mailed, just as if you did it yourself.
Always save and print your receipts when you transact online.
Be cautious with your passwords and know that your connection is secure.
Paypal was originally fashioned as a way to pay for eBay auctions. Eventually eBay bought Paypal and now it has become a questionable e-commerce paying institution that favors the buyer, often freezing funds from seller's accounts.
If you want to pay for online auctions, it's fine. If you want a real bank, look elsewhere.
Banking with computers is easy and safe. All of your payees are on a list that you set up.
You set the dates and amount you want paid. They can be a one-time or recurring payment.
There is something to be said for the convenience of banking from the kitchen table at dinner time.
Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly. Arthur welcomes your computer questions and ideas for future columns.
POSTED: October 2, 2010 1:00 a.m.
Online banking can take the stress out of transacting with your money. You can check your balances and pay your bills from home, but depending upon which type of online bank you use, it can have its pitfalls.
Banking online, no matter what type, is as secure as your password and your Internet connection. The majority of the risk is at your end. The bank secures their end.
Next time you buy something online, look at the address bar. It will have an "s" after the http://. The "s" is for secure. Often you'll also see an icon of a padlock. This is telling you the site you are paying through is encrypted, secure and unhackable.
If you use Internet banking or even just your credit card online, make certain you have a secured connection at your end, especially if it is wireless. It needs to encrypted in one of the methods Windows offers. You should also choose your password carefully and not use the same one for all of your accounts for obvious reasons.
Don't use your address, birthday, Social Security number or dog's name either. Be original and change it on a regular basis.
Don't write it on a sticky note fastened to your monitor or on your credit card. Use a password manager like RoboForm or memorize it.
There are online-only banks like Paypal (which technically is not even a bank) and there are brick-and-mortar institutions that offer online services. Both types make it easy work with your money online, but the former has its drawbacks.
Sure you can pay for anything 24/7 from your home or hotel, but try to get help should something go wrong. Most online financial institutions, Paypal especially, offer no customer service. You are on your own in cyberspace and it gets lonely when trying to track your money.
At least if you use the services of a local bank, you can go there or call them in the morning. I like the fact they know me at my bank. Online, you are a stranger.
The biggest fault of online banking is that sites go down - both theirs and yours.
Online there are no tellers and no ATMs. Then there is the trust thing. Did that transaction really go through? The page went blank after I clicked "pay."
But I am not trying to scare you away from banking online, just to be aware of whom you are dealing with.
Many banks will let you pay your bills, or anyone for that matter, for free. You can pay them electronically in most cases or with a printed check they mail out if electronic payments are not accepted.
You can check your investments, transfer money from one of your accounts to another and even pay your mortgage from your checking account and it shows instantly.
What I like is that you have until 4 p.m. to get to the bank, but until 6 p.m. to get to your computer. If you make a payment at 5:45 p.m., it still counts as that day's payment.
Anytime you transact online, you will receive a confirmation e-mail that day. The best thing to do is scrutinize your bank statement, whether on paper or online. If there is a discrepancy, you usually have 30 days to contest it with most banks.
You need to beware of e-mail scam artists that send announcements of pending doom if you don't click the link to fix errors in your account.
If you get one of those, click nothing. They want you to fill out forms, including your account number and password. The bank knows your account number and will never ask you for your password.
Either go to your account online securely or call them to see if there is anything wrong. Then report the e-mail.
So you need to watch for scammers; nothing new. If you are banking online, you are safe but need to take a few things into consideration. If bill-paying via the Internet, find out if your utility accepts electronic payments. If not, you need to allow for a check to be mailed, just as if you did it yourself.
Always save and print your receipts when you transact online.
Be cautious with your passwords and know that your connection is secure.
Paypal was originally fashioned as a way to pay for eBay auctions. Eventually eBay bought Paypal and now it has become a questionable e-commerce paying institution that favors the buyer, often freezing funds from seller's accounts.
If you want to pay for online auctions, it's fine. If you want a real bank, look elsewhere.
Banking with computers is easy and safe. All of your payees are on a list that you set up.
You set the dates and amount you want paid. They can be a one-time or recurring payment.
There is something to be said for the convenience of banking from the kitchen table at dinner time.
Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly. Arthur welcomes your computer questions and ideas for future columns.
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