How to protect your debit card against fraud

Thursday, August 22, 2019

We’ve all heard the news stories about debit card scams, data breaches at big box retail stores, as well as online breaches. Here are a few tips to help protect your financial information.

Be careful about online purchases. When making online purchases, it’s important to make sure that you’re on a secure website from a trusted vendor.

Before entering any card information, look up the web address and make sure you see a lock icon and an “https” before the URL. This lets you know the page is secure. Also, avoid entering card information while on public or unsecure Wi-Fi, like at a restaurant, cafe or library.

Consider a spending limit on your card. If your data is compromised, a spending limit on your debit card can help slow down a fraudulent actor. Once a spending limit is reached, transactions during that 24-hour period will no longer go through. This can give you enough time to shut off your card and keep any further fraudulent transactions from occurring.

While you might not be able to stop all fraud, there are tools available to shut down fraudulent activity quickly.

At Montgomery Bank, the My Mobile Money app allows you to monitor and control your debit card from your smartphone. This app allows you to easily monitor all transactions, set up spending limits, and enable alerts to let you know if there is any suspicious activity.

If you’re concerned that your card is being used fraudulently, you can turn your card off right from the app — no call to the bank required. If you misplace your card, you can turn the card off and then back on again if it is found.

The app also allows you to manage several cards, which is great for families, especially parents who are teaching their kids about using debit cards for the first time.

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Karen Schlosser is a personal banker at Montgomery Bank.