How to keep yourself safe when banking online. (Image source: Business Advice UK)

The ease and convenience of banking on a mobile device is undeniable. However, this luxury does not come without any risk as cyber crime continues to plague various industries by taking advantage of the unknowing consumer. This threat has seen banks make a concerted effort to educate their customers about the risks that they face and inform them on how to protect themselves by constantly keeping up to date with the latest Apps and security measures.

Kartik Mistry, Head of Smart Devices at FNB says, “Although technology allows you to bank anywhere at any time, the onus is on you to constantly lookout for the latest security measures to prevent fraudsters from robbing you of your hard earned cash.”

Mistry has highlighted important safety tips that consumers should consider when accessing banking services on their mobile devices, either through Banking Apps, cellphone banking and the mobile web.

What to do:

• Download Apps from trusted sources: It is not safe to download Apps from suspicious or unknown sources as these can expose your mobile phone to malicious malware and viruses that can gain unauthorised access to your private information.
  
• IM Swaps: Protect yourself from Sim Swap fraud by always keeping your phone switched on, ensuring that you have connection to the network and can send and receive messages.
• Cellphone Banking: Memorise your PIN, never write it down or share it with anyone.
  Choose an unusual PIN that is hard to guess and change it often.

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