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Smart ways to ensure the safety of your online accounts

01.02.19

Businesses are always looking for ways to work smarter, and online banking can be a highly effective way to increase productivity. At most financial institutions, you may even use online banking to quickly and conveniently pay bills and employees. Many banks even offer real-time access to transaction activity and reconciliation. But, some businesses have shied away from adopting online banking due to security concerns and risk of data theft or fraud.

Just like keeping a check register under lock and key, there are smart ways to prevent security breaches with online banking as well. The following security best practices help increase the safety of online banking.

  1. Bank from dedicated workstations. Reserve certain workstations and laptops solely for online banking and payments. Restrict web browsing, social networking and other open-platform activities on these computers.

  2. Use robust and individual authentication. Do not share account logins and passwords. Each authorized user should have a unique user name and complex password. Multi-factor authentication, which requires more than a user name and password, or the use of tokens are two additional measures that increase account security.

  3. Update virus protection and security software. Keep all anti-spyware, anti-malware and security software up-to-date on workstations and laptops used for online banking. Subscribe to automatic updates or implement a process to regularly confirm the most current software is installed and running.

  4. Sign up for additional fraud protection services. Many banks offer additional fraud management services, often integrated within their online banking platforms. These tools give you an added level of control over your business finances and protection from fraudulent activity.

Built-in security features, available real-time access to account data and other fraud management services make online banking a smart way to add efficiencies and tracking to business financial transactions. A few added steps on the part of your business helps foster peace of mind and maximize account safety.