What steps are in place to protect my money online?
When making a physical financial transaction, we are fairly sure of what procedures are in place to protect the payment. We keep it safe in our wallets, hand it over in person, and take a receipt to show we have paid the money.
But when it comes to online transactions, what steps are in place to protect our money when making payments? Is there ever a chance that our money will just fly off into the ether and never reach the intended payee? Or could the money be snatched mid-transaction? The “invisible” nature of online transactions give pause for thought, but surprisingly, they can often be more secure than physical transactions.
What does the company do?
Compliance with the appropriate regulations, the most common being the ones laid out by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC), around online payments is critical. Furthermore, most businesses and vendors online are required to sign up to some kind of regulatory body that ensures they have the uppermost security and protection for customers using their services. The online casino industry, for example, ensures that payments are secure through mechanisms where players make deposits and win money. As the business is primarily involved in the exchange of finances, the systems in place are rigorous.
Businesses should also ensure that transactions are encrypted, which can often be as simple to identify as a green padlock in the search bar of the website. Businesses also need to have strong authentication, which is especially important for things such as social media or online banking, which collects your data and ensures that you are the only one able to log on and access your data. Authentication and encryption are crucial to support any business in safe and secure online transactions.
What can I do?
There are still some steps that you can take in order to protect your own online transactions. You can make sure that you have a strong passwordthat isn’t used for anything else on any sites which you input card details or make online payments. Conducting private financial business over your personal internet connection is also advised, as those in public could be more problematic. Operating systems are also advised to be the top functioning level available, as these are likely to be the most stringent against possible cyber attacks. Those involved in cybercrime are more likely to hack an outdated and older version of an operating system than one that is at its highest level or newest to market.
When ensuring your online transactions are secure, it comes down to you and whoever you are making the transaction with. While there is a requirement that the business has financial security in place, the disruption of financial procedures can still occur at your end of the transaction. By ensuring your own systems and security measures in place are robust, as well as ensuring the business you are conducting online transactions with is, then you can ensure you are the best protected you can be for possible transaction disruption.
By Sue Roberts
