Choosing and Using Online Bank Accounts

You do not have to drive to the bank these days when you want to do most of your banking. If you have online bank accounts, you can do almost everything right from the comfort of your own home. You can not deposit money through your computer, of course, but you can move and spend money or change just about anything in relation to your accounts by using the Internet or by calling the bank. These online accounts are great and make life much easier as long as you keep a few things in mind to protect not only the money in your accounts but your identity as well.

You may feel comfortable using your dog's name or your child's birthday for your password on your email account or even your MySpace page. However, you do not want to do that with your online bank accounts. You want to have passwords that are hard for you to remember and that are not personal in any noticeable way. When you do this, you stop those that may have some personal information on you from guessing your passwords to get access to your online bank accounts. Those breaking into these online accounts know what they are doing, and they are good at guessing some passwords with very little information. Make yours with both letters and numbers, and do not use personal words or dates and ages. Random passwords are the best.

Another thing to remember about online bank accounts is that you want to make sure you are on a secure network when you are opening your accounts. Your home network is probably secure, but the one you may be using in a hotel lobby or in a coffee house is probably not. That means someone with the know-how and the right equipment can steal your information and then go into your account later and do a lot of damage to your personal bank accounts. If you are not sure that you are on a secure network, wait to check your accounts until you are sure.

If you get an email from your bank that tells you that you must sign into your online bank accounts to change your password or for some other problem, do not go to your account from the link that is provided within that email. It is a scam. No bank or other financial institution is going to send you an email about something this important. If you feel the urge to check, open up a new window and then type in the address on your own. Make sure you see 'https' on the log-in page so that you know you are on your bank's secure web site. If you follow the link in the email, you are giving someone your user name and password. If in any doubt, call your bank first.

If you are looking to open online bank accounts, you want to keep all of the above in mind. Ask your bank of choice about their policies and procedures if something does go wrong whether you are talking about a long standing account or one you have just opened. Most banks are on top of cyber crime and there are things that you can do when you have been the victim of theft through hacking or through identity theft. However, these things may not cover all loses. Know what you can expect and what you may not get back in the event that something happens.