We’ve arrived at a bar and grill restaurant, with a set budget in mind. Not even thinking the food was so good that we decided to order more for takeout. Arriving back home, after a double date, my friend and I look at each other nervously, anxious to see how much over we’ve spent so I pull out my newly bought Android. This friend tells me that they heard a rumor that it isn’t safe to use online banking on the Android, but you are unsure of what, and who, to believe.
In general, android phones are safe for online banking. Android, like other cellphone models, can be used for online banking as long as it is secure in both password, and in your possession at all times. However, there are people who are unfamiliar with online banking and what the benefits are in utilizing it.
Let’s keep reading, so that we can learn how safe it is to online bank with an Android and, also, what the benefits are for utilizing online banking on a cellphone, period.
Are Android Phones Safe for Online Banking?
Online banking can be an easy, and convenient, thing to use as you go about your day. What is important, overall, is making sure that we are keeping our information secure to safely use online banking on our Androids. Because, overall, online banking is safe as long as we do our part in making sure that it is. Let’s keep reading so that we can learn about five ways to ensure that our online banking is secure.
Regularly Change Your Passwords
Change the password on a regular basis, around every few months. When changing the password, ensure that it is a strong password. Strong passwords include both upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols. And when it’s time to change your password, make sure that it completely different from your previous passwords.
Do Not Save Your Login Information
Do not save your login information into the app. This may be convenient for a lot of us, but it is damaging in the long run if we let someone borrow our cellphones, or if we happen to lose it and it gets stolen.
A person who would steal your cellphone, can easily get into your account will have access to do whatever they please with your money. So, to avoid this, if you have trouble remembering your password then I would suggest to write it down somewhere on a piece of paper and keep it in a secure place that only you will be able to find it.
Avoid Using Public Wi-Fi
Avoid using public wi-fi while using your online banking. Public wi-fi suscepts you to being vulnerable since you are likely to be hacked. If you want to use online banking, in a public place, then use the data from your cellphone or your home wi-fi. However, if you are insistent on using public wi-fi, then use a VPN, or virtual private network.
An example of a VPN is NordVPN.
Keep Your Information Private
Do not share your information with anyone other than yourself. Unless it’s you or if you were to visit your local bank, then no one else should know about your banking information. If someone were to call you, or me, over the phone asking about bank information, do not answer them as this could possibly be a scam.
Since your online banking information will be on your cellphone, keep it with you at all times. Having your cellphone by your side ensues that no one will be within arms reach of your phone nor have access to your information. If you have to update your information, then contact your bank to notify them of a phone number, or address, change.
Avoid Email Scams
Avoid email scams at all costs. Any email that asks you for your password, or any other personal information, and are posing as your bank is a scam. As much as we look through our emails, it is easy to detect a legitimate email from a fake email from our bank.
A difference for us to look for is that the grammar is often poor in contrast to an authentic email. These emails will usually try to lure us by asking to click on a questionable website and, within minutes, can take our information and possibly lock us out of our bank accounts.
To avoid all of this, do not open the email, just delete it, or flag it as spam.
Now, as there are ways to ensure that your online banking is secure, overall we can know that online banking is really easy, and beneficial to use for Android users. So, let’s keep reading to learn about the five benefits of online banking.
Five Benefits of Online Banking
A lot of us are all aware that all cellphones, including Androids, are capable of being used for activities such as online banking. However, there are still some that seem to be spectacle about its use and question whether or not it is safe. Trying to explain this to skeptics can be a little difficult for us, sometimes, since we are unsure of what, and how, to convince someone that something like online banking is more beneficial than harmful. So, let us keep reading to learn about five reasons as to why people choose to use online banking.
Easy Access to Your Transactions
Using online banking can give us the advantage of having easy access to our transactions. Once we’ve made our purchase to, let’s say, a takeout restaurant, then you can open your phone and choose the banking app that you use, and the transaction is right in front of you.
Having this on our cellular devices doesn’t leave us to question whether a transaction was made, or not, because we can see it right in front of us within less than thirty seconds. And the same goes for if you feel as though there was an over, or under, transaction made, you will know about this instead of having to speculate.
Ability to Monitor Fraudulent Activities
I know for a lot of us that the worst thing that can happen is someone else stealing your money and going on a shopping spree. And what would make it worse is if you were unaware of it. With online banking, we would have the advantage of setting up alerts within the app.
So, if someone did decide to try and steal from you, then you can be notified via email, a phone call from your bank, or even a text to alert us. Right then and there, we would be able to handle the situation at hand versus having to wait who knows how long before we would become aware of fraudulent activity.
Direct Deposit
Direct deposit is a timesaver for a lot of us who receives our checks every week, or two weeks. Instead of having to wait for our checks in the mail for days on end, on the day that we are paid the money can just be transferred to our personal bank accounts. Normally, this can take only a few hours.
Automatically Pay Bills Online
Having to send checks, or even going to a building, to pay a bill can be a hassle sometimes. With online banking, we are able to set up our payments on auto. So, every month, we would not have to worry about remembering to pay our bills by that specified day because auto pay would take care of that for us.
With setting our bills to auto pay, the only thing we would need to worry about is just making sure that our cash is staying afloat. Now, despite not all companies accept online, auto, payment there is still a good majority that still does and is worth taking advantage of for the convenience.
Having a Sense of Control
Having your bank information, in your pocket, is a great sense of control for a lot of us. Without having to go to our local bank, which for some of us can be a fifteen- or twenty-minute drive, or being put on hold by customer service, we can just open our bank app and keep up with our finances.
In the comfort of our own home, we have the ability to set up our auto payments, transfer money from one account to the next, keep track of our balance, etc. There is a nice sense of control, and convenience, for a lot of us who are having to run around all day.
So when we return home, and forgot to go to the bank, we can easily remind ourselves that we have online banking and just about whatever we need to do can be accomplished through the cellphone app. This form of control can be used with any cellphone ranging from Android to iPhone.
Closing
We have now learned whether Androids are safe for online banking. We have also learned about five ways to ensure that your online banking is secure, and the five benefits of online banking.
