If you use your cell phone to access your bank accounts, there are Care must be taken to avoid unpleasant surprises.If in the beginning mobile phones were only used to make a phone call or send a message, today it is not so. In fact, a lot has changed since April 1972, when the world’s first mobile phone call was made. In 1973, the first mobile phone was put on sale: Motorola’s Dyna-TAc 8000.These devices arrived in Portugal in the late 1980s and there were then 2,000 registered mobile phones. With the emergence of TMN operators in 1991 and Telecel (now Vodafone) in 1992, we witnessed a strong implementation. using e-mail, applications, accessing social networks and bank accounts via mobile phones is part of the daily lives of millions of people.However, if the use of the mobile phone goes far beyond the initial, Care must also be taken when using it, especially when accessing your bank account.When we use the cell phone for a wide range of activities, it has kept a lot of confidential personal information. If this information ends up in the wrong hands, it can be used fraudulently, creating big problems. For example, if you enter directly using your email, then your mobile phone has your password stored. The same goes if you enter your bank account without entering your codes. What if you have your citizen card details somewhere in a note on your cell phone? All these data are crucial and cannot be misused.
Do you access your bank account on your mobile phone? Redouble care
Accessing our bank account from our mobile phone is our biggest risk. Who doesn’t want to keep their assets safe? So, you should avoid using your cell phone for this purpose, but if you really have to, then there are precautions to be taken.
1. Be careful where you access
This seems to be an elementary precaution, but the truth is that few people are careful about where they are when they access their bank from their cell phone.When using your cell phone in a cafe you will be using a public network and therefore less secure than a private network, such as your home or a friend’s. A public network allows a greater number of users, therefore, it can be more easily monitored by hackers. Just as you never know who is next to you, sitting or standing, and who may be watching what you are doing.
2. Install an antivirus
Although mobile phones have antivirus installed, don’t make it easy. If you are going to access your bank account from your mobile phone, additional security is never enough.
3. To access your account, do not enter the bank’s website
Another of the rules is do not enter the bank’s website. If you have to access your bank use the app (application) that it makes available. The reason is simple. Although websites have their own security, apps, in order to be approved for use on mobile phones, have to comply with a set of stricter security rules. They have encrypted structures making them more secure. Even if a virus “enters” your phone, you hardly have access to app data.
4. Keep the bank app up to date
This is another one of the golden rules. Banks are constantly correcting detected vulnerabilities and introducing improvements to the security of the app they make available to their customers. Many of the updates are automatic, but if the bank asks you to update the app, do so immediately. (make sure this order is from the bank).
5. Non-response to request to re-enter access codes
If you receive a notification asking you to repeat access codes to keep your account active or repeat approval of a bank transaction, please do not.As banks repeatedly warn, these never send this type of notifications. This is an attempt to obtain your bank details. Contact your bank immediately. Also read: Smishing: What does it consist of and how can you protect yourself?
6. Do not store your bank account details on your mobile phone
Never store your homebanking access data, the pin of your debit and credit cards and the IBAN of your account on your mobile phone. You will be giving out information that could be used to harm you financially. This is one of the repeated alerts at Banco de Portugal.
7. Beware of the permissions you give to other applications
How many times when installing an application you don’t see a request for permission to access location, contacts or even other applications? Be careful when doing so. It could be giving you access to your browsing logs and even monitoring all your mobile activity. Therefore, you are inadvertently giving the access data to your bank account. If you think the app you installed doesn’t need permissions, decline them. It will be less of a risk you will be taking.
8. Lock the screen
With the screen locked, if your cell phone is stolen or lost it will be more difficult to access confidential information.
9. Prioritize biometric data
Access to your mobile phone or your bank account by biometric data is enhanced security. The fingerprint is yours and therefore more difficult to reproduce. However, as with everything, it is not impossible. In conclusion, avoid accessing your bank account from your mobile phone, but if you have to and note any strange activity, contact your bank immediately and change passwords. Also read: How to use the ATM without a bank card
A professional writer by day, a tech-nerd by night, with a love for all things money.