Is it safe to use a debit card online? Many customers use debit cards for online transactions to avoid accruing credit card debt. When you pay with a debit card, the money is deducted immediately from your checking account. Moreover, when you purchase online, you risk stealing your personal information. Using a debit card increases the risk that a thief can access the money in your checking account.
You will be protected only if you tell your financial institution that your debit card has been lost, stolen, or used illegally. Follow these eight guidelines to ensure the security of your debit card transactions, whether you are making an in-store or online purchase.
Check Your Bank Statements Often
Since it is important to acquire complete fraud protection from your bank, you should practice monitoring your bank account online at least once a week, if not every day.
Protect Your Personal Identification Number
Never provide your personal identification number (PIN) to anybody who asks; never write it down or record it anywhere in your wallet or handbag. At the petrol station, avoid using your PIN. Instead, utilize your card in the feature that allows you to make a credit purchase so no one else can see it. Depending on your bank, using your debit card in credit card mode may provide you with additional liability protection.
Think About Using a Credit Card While You're Shopping Online
Since a fraudulent credit card transaction takes longer for your bank to execute and may become an issue of dispute rather than an immediate loss of funds from your checking account, some customers opt to use only credit cards while shopping online. To assure encryption, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco advises users to look for a security sign on each website, such as a key that has not been broken or a padlock. Even while using a credit card might rack up debt, it won't take money out of your checking account, and if it's used illegally, you can be covered by the Fair Credit Billing Act.
Use Only Bank ATMs
There is a larger likelihood that a thief may install a "skimming" device on an automated teller machine (ATM) that is positioned in a convenience shop, subway station, airport, or other location. This device will steal your debit card information and store it. Even while this occurs in banks occasionally, it is far simpler to pull off in an area without security cameras.
Avoid Public Wireless Access
To reduce the risk of your password and account information being stolen by cybercriminals, make sure you are accessing the internet using a wireless network that requires a password.
Report Any Issues Right Now
You should immediately report any fraudulent transactions, just as if your wallet were taken and your credit and debit cards were lost.
Think About Filing a Complaint with the Police
If someone steals your debit card and uses it, you should report the theft to the police and save a copy of the police report. This will give you more support when you ask your bank to reimburse you for the purchases made on the card.
Make Your Security Profile
Your debit card has additional layers of protection, including security questions and a backup phone number. You can make up whatever security questions you choose as long as you remember the answers.
Fraudulent Transactions Using Your Debit Card
If a customer reports illegal transactions on their account within sixty days of the date their statement was delivered, the National Consumer Law Center states that the consumer will be protected even if their debit card has not been lost or stolen.
Consumers have only two business days to contact the card issuer after discovering the loss of a physical card. Those that comply will keep their losses to a maximum of $50. If not, they risk losing up to $500. If they wait months to tell the bank, it's possible that they won't get any of their money back.
The debit card safeguards many financial institutions offer clients have been significantly strengthened. These institutions will go above and above the aforementioned regulations to ensure that customers are not held liable for any transactions that are later shown to be fraudulent. This is particularly true if customers report fraudulent transactions as soon as feasible.
Bottom Line
If someone can empty your checking account, you may discover that using a debit card is easy; nevertheless, this won't be the case. When avoiding a negative experience with a debit card, a fraction of attentiveness and certain behavioral changes may go a long way.
