Skip to main content

Precautions to be taken in Mobile Banking

Indeed, mobile banking scams have become common these days. Here’re some precautions you need to take before you decide to reach your bank through your mobile phone.

  • FIRST THINGS FIRST
It is true that mobile banking saves you from those bank trips for every small little thing. But before you get lured by the convenience and the ease that mobile banking services provide, make sure that you know everything about the service. Mobile banking is available through many modes. Which one is compatible with your handset is the first thing that, experts say, you should know as a mobile banking user. A user must know what his bank is charging for the service and also the rates that telecom companies levy for connectivity and messaging.

  • SAFETY MEASURES

Apart from the basics, you should be aware of the safety measures that you need to take. As is always prescribed, you should immediately change your password and destroy the password mailer after doing so. Disclosing your password to someone (including bank staff) and using obvious passwords like name, date of birth, etc, is the biggest folly. You should never ever store mobile banking PIN (m pin) in your cell phone memory and should also delete all messages that have your m pin information. If possible, disable the temporary storage. The bank accounts of mobile banking users can be manipulated very easily if they lose their phone or change their phone number or handset. If you do any kind of tampering with your phone or the number, then you should immediately inform your bank, get your mobile banking services blocked and request for a new m pin.

  • FRAUDS! BUT HOW

If you think that mobile banking solutions are all about cutting down the number of times you run to your bank, think again. Mobile banking frauds have become very common these days and it can happen in a number of ways. If you have stored your m pin on sent messages or on the phone and the phone is lost, then in your account can be easily misused. Anyone can easily read your messages as they are sent in clear text. Other than that, if there is virus in your phone and the same has the capability to access your m pin details, then also you can be a victim of fraud.

Frauds can happen by way of cloning of websites. Although most banks have encrypted websites but if they are not then account users can be fooled by fake websites. One of the possible ways of identifying the cloned website is the http address at the top. The fake website can never have the same uniform source locator (URL) and therefore one must always check the address bar properly at the top

MUST KNOW

Modes of mobile phone banking solutions

1) Application based


Download an application on your handset from bank website or through bluetooth

2) SMS based


Interact with the bank’s SMS gateway from your handset using predefined SMS text codes

3) USSD based

Interact with bank using preset codes on USSD with your bank’s published gateways. USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) is a Global System for Mobile (GSM) communication technology that is used to send text between a mobile phone and an application program in the network.

4) WAP Based

Use GPRS services on your handset to access bank’s mobile banking site on your handset

Be informed about

• Handset is compatible with which of the above modes
• Bank Charges
• Telecom rates for messaging or connectivity

Safety measures

• Never store your m pin in the phone
• Delete all messages, which have your m pin information
• Check your mobile phone for viruses/ Trojans
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

ICICI Prudential Balanced Fund

 ICICI Prudential Balanced Fund scheme seeks to generate long-term capital appreciation and current income by investing in a portfolio that is investing in equities and related securities as well as fixed income and money market securities. The approximate allocation to equity would be in the range of 60-80 per cent with a minimum of 51 per cent, and the approximate debt allocation is 40-49 per cent, with a minimum of 20 per cent. An impressive show in the last couple of years has propelled this fund from a three-star to a four-star rating. The fund has traditionally featured a high equity allocation, hovering at well over 70 per cent, which is higher than the allocations of the peers. But in the last one year, the allocation has been moderated from 78-79 per cent levels to 66-67 per cent of the portfolio. ICICI Prudential Balanced Fund appears to practise some degree of tactical allocation based on market valuations. Within equities, well over two-thirds of the allocation is parked i...
Read more

TDS Rate and Personal Account Number(PAN)

    The TDS rate doubles to 20% from 10% if you fail to mention your Personal Account Number   IF you run a glance through your pay slip, you will come across something called TDS, which is tax deduction at source. In most cases, the employer deducts this amount at the time of payment of salary itself and pays the total tax amount to the government on behalf of all the employees. If you are a self- employed or practicing professional s, you have to pay this amount yourself.    Tax deducted at source is one of the modes of income tax collection by the government. Under the income-tax laws, income tax at specified rates is required to be deducted while making certain payments.    The rate of deduction of tax at source on interest and rent payment is 10%. For salary payments, the employers deduct income tax at source on a monthly basis after computing income tax liability on estimated annual taxable income of the employee. Tax benefits on housing loan, investments, etc are consid...
Read more

L&T Tax Advantage

Best SIP Funds to Invest Online   The fund follows a growth approach to investing in quality stocks that have a large-cap tilt This large-cap tilted ELSS has fared consistently and fared better than its benchmark by posting a higher margin of outperformance. The fund follows a growth approach to investing in quality stocks that have a large-cap tilt, which is evident in its portfolio. The portfolio is further well diversified across market capitalisation and sectors with over 60 stocks finding a place in it. The upside with this fund is the fact that it has witnessed both down and up cycles of the market to come across as a winner in the long run. Do not doubt the fund based on its size and a few mediocre years of performance, because when analysing its rolling three year returns, the fund's performance stands out to qualify as a must have ELSS in one's portfolio. Stay invested through the lock-in and there are chances of benefiting from returns as well as tax savings will prov...
Read more

Tax Planning: Income tax and Section 80C

In order to encourage savings, the government gives tax breaks on certain financial products under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act. Investments made under such schemes are referred to as 80C investments. Under this section, you can invest a maximum of Rs l lakh and if you are in the highest tax bracket of 30%, you save a tax of Rs 30,000. The various investment options under this section include:   Provident Fund (PF) & Voluntary Provident Fund (VPF) Provident Fund is deducted directly from your salary by your employer. The deducted amount goes into a retirement account along with your employer's contribution. While employer's contribution is exempt from tax, your contribution (i.e., employee's contribution) is counted towards section 80C investments. You can also contribute additional amount through voluntary contributions (VPF). The current rate of interest is 8.5% per annum and interest earned is tax-free. Public Provident Fund (PPF) An account can be opened wi...
Read more

Fortis Mutual Fund

Fortis Mutual Fund, a relatively new player, it is still to prove its case and define its position in the industry. In September 2004, it came onto the scene with a bang - three debt schemes, one MIP and one diversified equity scheme. And investors flocked to it. Going by the standards at that time, it had a great start in terms of garnering money. Mopping up over Rs 2,000 crore in five schemes was not bad at all. The fund house has not been too successful in the equity arena, in terms of assets. Though it has seven equity schemes, it is debt and cash funds that corner the major portion of the assets. Most of the schemes are pretty new, and the two that have been around for a while have a 3-star rating each. The last two were Fortis Sustainable Development (April 2007), which received a rather poor response, and Fortis China India (October 2007). Fortis Flexi Debt has been one of the better performing funds, after a dismal performance in 2005. It currently has a 5-star rating. None ...
Read more
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Invest in Tax Saving Mutual Funds Download Any Applications
Transact Mutual Funds Online Invest Online
Buy Gold Mutual Funds Invest Now