Keeping Your Accounts Secure When Using Financial Apps

Financial apps and digital tools are becoming more and more common due to their ease and convenience. Digital Banking apps, Venmo^®, Paypal^®, TurboTax^®, Mint^® and more all serve to help you easily manage your finances on-the-go.

These tools use your information to provide personalized service that is unique to you. They may also use third-party data aggregators to collect and store certain information, such as transaction information.

Though the access to personal information may be cause for concern to some, many people enjoy the convenience of having a tool to display information from all of your accounts in one place. Having real-time access to your financial information helps you stay on top of your finances anytime, anywhere.

If you’re feeling wary of financial apps, familiarizing yourself with the terms and conditions of the user agreement may help put your mind at ease. Especially the portions regarding rights and access to your account information. Reading the privacy policies and security information of each tool can also help dissipate any lingering concerns.

If you’d rather err on the side of caution when it comes to financial apps, there a few steps you can take to remain vigilant:

• Sign up for transaction alerts on your account. e-Alerts deliver instant notifications to your mobile device of activity on your account. You can activate and manage your e-Alerts within Digital Banking.
• Avoid public Wi-Fi. You should only access your Digital Banking and other financial accounts from a known and trusted source, such as your home network.
• Make sure your network connection is secure. If you’re accessing your financial accounts online through an unsecured network, other users on that network may also be able to access your account.

If you later decide to stop using financial apps, make sure you deactivate your accounts (not just delete the apps from your device!) to prevent continued access to your account information. You should also change your Digital Banking password as an extra precaution to ensure these apps are no longer able to connect to your account.

The best way to protect your accounts is to avoid sharing your login credentials with anyone. You should never give someone else your username or password for Digital Banking or any other financial information, not even your friends or family members. Your username and password are unique to your specific account, and sharing that information with someone who is not on your account leaves the door wide open for them to access all of your account information. If you have trouble remembering your login, store your credentials in a secure location and don’t tell anyone else where they can find it.

At Robins Financial Credit Union, we are committed to protecting the safety and security of our members. To find out more about how we protect our members every day, feel free to give us a call or stop by any of our branch locations.