Are Online Bank Accounts Secure?

Online banking is a great convenience. Having 24-hour access to your bank accounts makes it easy to conduct all kinds of transactions. But is it safe? Does that easy access to your online bank accounts compromise security?

No. Not if you don't let it.

Keep in mind that banks and financial institutions have used computers for decades, connecting securely to each other to automate transactions. Now that so many of their customers are online, the banks have extended that secure connection to your home computer.

The banking industry has devoted a great deal of money and effort to developing the best technology possible for keeping your account protected. All the information on its website's secure pages is encrypted, meaning that the information is scrambled to prevent anyone who might intercept the transmission from reading the data. In fact, banks use 128-bit encryption, which means that there are a septillion keys that could unlock the data but only one that does, and it changes each time you log on.

Many banks have added an extra layer of security called a SiteKey. It's a picture and phrase that you set up in advance. To access your online bank accounts, you enter your user name and the site responds with your SiteKey. If the image and phrase are correct, you then you enter your password. SiteKey adds an extra measure of assurance that the site you're on actually belongs to your bank.

Being sure of that is one thing you must do to keep your information secure. Phishing, or soliciting your log in information, is the greatest risk to the security of your account. To protect yourself against it, don't ever click a link in any email to access your accounts. Always start at your bank's main page, either bookmarked or carefully typed into your browser window. Make sure your home computer is protected against viruses and spyware, and keep the software up to date.

Ironically, having online access to your bank account is, itself, one way to help keep your account secure. Being able to monitor your account, track your balance and see transactions in real time makes it easy to spot discrepancies and take action. The convenience of online bank accounts actually adds to their security!

So be careful with your log in information, be wary of phishing and keep an eye on activity. Beyond that, trust your bank to maintain the highest level of security for your online bank accounts — while you enjoy the convenience.