Have you ever been out shopping, especially before Christmas, and the bank has called you to ask if you still have your credit card?
Well it happened to me last Christmas….mainly because I was shopping interstate, rather than in my local neighbourhood. The bank’s computer systems alerted a bank staff member who called me to determine whether I was spending with my card or if fraud was occurring. In this case, it was me spending, but it does go to show that there are reasons for the banks to have your phone numbers and to know if you have travel plans.
Banks are most likely to contact customers if you take your card overseas or interstate and you’re not a regular traveller. If fraud is occurring on your account, then generally banks will block the card to prevent any more spending and they will send you a new card. As you can understand, banks may have to act very fast in such cases and if they cannot reach you, they may block your card anyway to protect your account.
We trust banks to keep our savings safe, provide finance when we need it and not to leave us out of pocket if we become unwitting victims of fraud. So it’s important to understand that banks are always working to improve security enhancements to protect customers.
Online banking can be a safe alternative when travelling, especially if you are carrying your own laptop which is protected with up-to-date firewall and anti-virus software. You do need to avoid using public computers because you don’t know if security software has been loaded on to the terminal. Public computers, for example in Internet cafés or hotels, may also have a keystroke logger installed which allows criminals to capture passwords, credit card and bank account details.
Just like locking your front door before you leave home, there are some simple steps that you can take to tighten your personal security:
- Never reveal your PIN or Internet banking password or logon to anyone – a bank will never ask you for this information
- Make sure that you shop online only with trusted companies on secure websites, and
- Lock your letterbox so thieves can’t steal personal information.
We hope some of these simple tips will help keep your holiday season safe from fraud.
20 Comments
Hello.This article was extremely motivating, especially since I was looking for thoughts on this issue last Saturday.
Thanks for sharing! I’m a banker. I’d like to add something more. IF you have a bank account with any bank and use the Internet to make transactions, money transfers or credit card payments, here are some general ‘safe-banking’ tips that you might do well to follow:
1. Never use unprotected PCs at cyber-cafes for Internet banking.
2. Never keep your PIN and credit/debit card(s) together.
3. Never leave the PC unattended when on Internet banking in a public place.
Cheers-
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Hello! Just want to say thank you for this interesting article! =) Peace, Joy.
Great tips! It’s also worth mentioning that sometimes it isn’t that safe logining into your internet banking via PC’s on the go in foreign countries. I’ve had a client have his personal details stolen while logging into an internet kiosk while in Spain.
Identity theft is a major problem, and the probabilities greatly increase while you’re traveling. Careful who you are giving your credit or debit card to, even getting gas in an unfamiliar location could lead to erroneous charges (happened to me).
We have had a lot of bikes bought and then the poilce get in contact to say someones identity has been stolen to buy them so its not only holidays its all of the time! be carefull and shred your paperwork!!
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While this article holds true and makes some excellent points. I can’t get past the fact that when it comes to technology, it seems that the kids pass the parents in fluency at around the ages of 7 to 10. This means that after or around that age, the parents start coming to the kids for help on how to use the computer rather than the parents teaching the kids how to use it. I can only imaging that while not all kids are able to get around the parental controls, it is safe to assume that a certain percentage, high or low, are more suave than their parents and therefore really makes not difference when such aspects and protocols are put in place. While things like (link removed) gambling sites are probably the most dangerous for the kids to go to an gamble away their parents money, there are far more benign and influential that can really form an impact on the way the child sees the world. Even common sites like CNN which have just news, have pictures of dead bodies and stories of leaders in sex scandals that numbs the children’s brains to such things or even worse, influences them as something to strive for.
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Loving the info on this website , you have done great job on the blog posts.
Being living in the era of e-commerce and internet banking, this article shows us the exact way to protect our banking identity, also as a (link removed) member like in facebook, twitter i would say changing of the password for every bi-monthly or monthly will also be safe.
It’s essential during the holiday season to keep notice on your bank and credit card statements due to all the fraud occurring these days. When shopping, also ask for a copy of the store’s privacy policy, and be sure to keep all your receipts.
Some useful tips there. I’ll make sure to be safer in the future!
Some great tips there for your banking requirements when travelling, I got hastle once when abroad my bank didnt realise that I might want to spend some of my hard earned cash. I had to call from holidays to ask them to activate my card for purchases in the local chinese restaurant.
Banking safety is very important especially when travelling thanks for the information, I look forward to your next post.
Credit card and banking fraud is never acceptable – lets stamp it out!
These are great tips. One that a lot of people are not aware of is:
1. Check to see if your credit card company allows you to generate a one-time use account number for your card. This can be used for sites you don’t trust.
It’s always a matter of concern the security of banking. Often it’s heard that someone’s bank account has been hacked. Though often this happens for their lack of awareness, sometime the PIN can be stolen. As the third tip indicates, the letter from the bank with very confidential information can be stolen from the letter box. So, beside not sharing the PIN with anyone and using secure online payment system, it’s very much essential to keep an eye on the external letter box.
With regards,
Kelly from
(link removed)
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Some great tips there for your banking requirements when travelling, I got hastle once when abroad my bank didnt realise that I might want to spend some of my hard earned cash. I had to call from holidays to ask them to activate my card for purchases in the local chinese restaurant.
Thanks for sharing! I’m a banker. I’d like to add something more. IF you have a bank account with any bank and use the Internet to make transactions, money transfers or credit card payments, here are some general ‘safe-banking’ tips that you might do well to follow:
1. Never use unprotected PCs at cyber-cafes for Internet banking.
2. Never keep your PIN and credit/debit card(s) together.
3. Never leave the PC unattended when on Internet banking in a public place.
Cheers-
you have shared some great tips about the safe banking in holidays.
thanks for sharing