Independent Thoughts

Most of us has more than one bank account and with increasing paper processing fees, banks recommend us to go paperless which not only saves them overhead costs but also make transaction processing simpler and faster. Paperless banking comes with its own pros and cons , if you do decide to go fully paper less, you may want to at least consider the 5 points safe paperless banking below.

A safe internet connection : Anyone on the Internet should have a good firewall and software to combat pop-ups, spyware and viruses. If your financial life runs on your computer, then you need to be particularly vigilant about making sure your protections are in place and updated regularly.

Bank must have Customer Support Service : Make sure your bank has a cusotmer support service where you may call for any questions related to your account and keep the hotline number handy.

Monitor your accounts regulary : Its recommened that you must check your accounts weekly and go through all the transactions for that week carefully. If the only time you think about or check your accounts is when you get your monthly statements in the mail, you’re probably not a good candidate for going paperless. An easy way to stay on top of your accounts is by downloading your transactions into personal finance software like Money or Quicken. The latest incarnations of these programs make the process painless and fast, allowing you to see exactly what’s going on in your accounts.

Limit e-mail alerts for read only : Some credit card issuers will e-mail you when a payment is due, which is nice, but a few go further. American Express will e-mail you if suspicious activity is detected in your account, and Discover will let you know if a charge exceeds a certain limit, which you set. Wells will let you know if someone requested that your address or PIN number be changed. Well you may start getting alert but must be carefull to those as scammers sometimes send frud emails which look like an email alert from your bank. So just read these alerts and never reply back and if at all you have to take an action, call the bank hotline or customer service.

Don’t fall for phishing : The biggest risk to your financial records may be your own gullibility. Do not (R) not reveal personal financial information, such as account numbers and passwords, in response to e-mails “alerting” them to a problem in one of their financial accounts. These may be email scams or phishing scams. I never respond to an email which has requested any financial or personal information.