5 Things Every New Age Banker should know

The cleaner in my office is a sweet lady who has never been to school. However, she can speak Hindi and Marathi and understand basic English. She always asks me or few other girls in our office for help/ advice for her banking needs. From the basic requirement of depositing and withdrawing money to reading her passbook and writing cheques, she always came to us for assistance. And now she has decided to venture into the realm of plastic money and online banking with lot of trepidation.

My session with her to educate her into the best banking practices, do’s and don’ts of online banking prompted me to write this article. The urbane population might be educated and well versed with the language and processes but still we all tend to make mistakes and ignore the basic things when it comes to internet/ computer/ online security.

I’ve been banking with SBI for about a decade now and have a strong banking relationship with the bank. Recently SBI launched this campaign called #SbiComputerSecurityDay to create awareness about the various fraudulent practices and online attacks. The bank has also launched a video to inform and educate the masses about the issue. You can find more information about the campaign here, @TheOfficialSBI

Without further ado, here are the top 5 things you need to be careful about…

Login details and passwords:

Do NOT share crucial information such as your ATM PIN, Mobile/ Internet banking passwords, OTPs, credit/ debit card details, etc, with anyone. Not even a banking official. Most likely that person is a fraudster if that person is asking for that information. No banking official will ask you that information as they know the sensitive nature of it. This information can be used by fraudsters to drain/ deplete your bank account.

Regularly check your savings accounts:

Keep a regular tab on your savings account to avoid any fraudulent transactions. Whenever you do any transactions, cross check your account statement to ensure that the right amount has been debited/ credited. If you find any discrepancies, inform your bank immediately.

Secure website:

Always type in your bank’s URL for net/ online banking. Do not use public computers for such transactions as you might be accidentally sharing your credentials with the public network. Always look for ‘https://’ in the URL as it signifies secure connection and protects the information you share with the website.

Phishing and vishing articles:

Phishing refers to criminal activity wherein people use fraudulent ways online to obtain sensitive information and use it for personal gain. The same criminal activity done via telephone/ SMS is called vishing. Be careful of this and avoid giving out any personal information via online forms or through SMSes no matter how official they look and sound. If need be, cross check with your bank.

Do not download unknown applications or extensions:

Be careful and avoid downloading any unknown/ malicious application from various online app stores such as Google play store, Apple App store, Windows Marketplace, etc. Even if the apps are meant for banking and are talking about your bank, you need to first check its authenticity with your bank. Do NOT otherwise download any such apps.

These are the most important things to be vigilant about. Obviously there are lot of different ways to ensure safety and security of your money. SBI is sharing the detailed information on their website. Do check it out.

Also, if you have any other tip to ensure #CyberSecurity do share it in the comments below.