PayPal: New year, greater security: Three useful tips for better protection of your financial data in 2015
By: TomerBarel, Head of Risk Management
As we are still in the first months of 2015, you may be wondering whether you will continue to pursue the goals you set for the new year. You may already have decided to focus on a new goal, or you may not have set any yet; in any case, a plan worth adding to your list and maintaining throughout the year is ensuring the protection of your financial data.
According to theIdentityTheftResourceCenter, 783 security and personal information breaches were reported in 2014, putting more than 82 million consumers and even more businesses at risk. Of the 783 breaches, 43 were related to banks and cards, exposing personal financial information to more than 1.1 million individuals.
While most large businesses, financial institutions, and merchants prioritize security, consumers should still equip themselves with the most up-to-date payment protection methods. That’s why PayPal offers a solution to protect your financial information, year-round.
These are three basic tips to ensure lifelong’ protection of your financial data:
Adopt a Mobile Wallet . A digital wallet , in addition to not weighing down your pockets when you leave home, frees you from stress when making your transactions. PayPal offers consumers one of the most secure digital wallets in the world, where all transactions are monitored in real time and protected with advanced encryption. As PayPal services do not require the use of specific devices with the corresponding specifications and commitments, the digital wallet can work well with Android , Blackberry and iPhone devices , thus making it easy for anyone to make secure transactions almost anywhere via mobile phone.
Protect your devices with security codes. As the number of transactions via mobile phones increases, the degree of security in the process of storing financial data on our devices should also increase accordingly. Although digital wallets offer a high level of security, the possibility of theft or loss of our mobile phone is still high. The most secure solution to protect your mobile phone and its valuable content is to create a password that does not allow any third party to unlock it. All the latest mobile phones offer this personal password service – some even have fingerprint recognition technology – and the setup time takes less than five minutes.
Choose the Most Secure Payment Methods. When someone makes an online purchase, they often worry about the risk of sharing their credit card details and forget about other payment methods. PayPal is a secure alternative to online payments or paying in physical stores with a credit or debit card. The service is also offered as a payment method on millions of popular websites.
Finally, it’s always important to make sure that the website you’re shopping from is secure. An easy way to check the security of a site is to take a look at theURL of the site in question. Web addresses always start with HTTP(HypertextTransferProtocol ). The “S” at the end – “HTTPS” – stands for “secure” and indicates that the site has an additional layer of security features, allowing for the secure sharing of payment details. You may also see a padlock icon in front of the URL, as an extra security mark for the website.
It is reasonable to think that you have a lot to consider before making a simple purchase, but it is very important to remember that the security of your financial data is worth your time. In the spirit of the New Year, as well as the Chinese New Year that begins on February 19, now is the most suitable time to embrace these changes and not stop taking the right measures that will ensure you a longer, safer and technologically advanced digital life.
Source: secnews.gr
