Though there may be anxiety among those used to traditional bill paying methods regarding the safety and reliability of paying bills online, it may surprise you that online payments are safer than traditional payment methods and offer many advantages, including security, reliability, and transparency. They can be even more secure if you take a few steps to protect yourself. Here are a few reasons why paying your bills online is a secure way to manage your finances.
1. You’ll have a record of bills paid online: Whenever you pay bills over the Internet, a record is created of how much you paid, when you made the payment, and to whom the payment was made to. These records are usually available for access at any time. Aside from the convenience of having records available, if there is ever a fraudulent charge made to one of your accounts, you’ll know it.
2. You’re less likely get hacked than experience mail tampering: Research shows that identity thieves are actually more likely to obtain your sensitive financial information by tampering with your mail than hacking into your online email or bank accounts. This is another reason why online bill paying is more secure than use of traditional methods. Recent advancements have also made it possible to access your sensitive information through secure connections. To make sure you’re benefiting from them, look for “https” rather than “http” at the beginning of the URL of your web page.
3. You can easily report fraud or theft: Because you have records of all the payments you’ve made online, it’s easy to detect fraud when it occurs. Once it happens, you can easily report it to your card company or financial institution, and you’ll have all the necessary information to do so.
family paying bills
Aside from common-sense practices like remembering never to give your card or account numbers to anyone, there are a couple of ways you can protect yourself from online fraud and identity theft to make your online bill paying even more secure.
1. Check your records frequently: The first step to dealing with fraud is knowing it occurred. You’ll be able to respond to identity theft more quickly if you catch it soon after it happens. If you see signs of fraud, make sure to report it to your card company.
2. Only do business with reputable companies: If you plan on doing business with a company that’s not well known, make sure it’s reputable so that you protect yourself from fraudulent practices. Ways to determine whether or not a business is legit include searching for online reviews and getting information from the Better Business Bureau about the company.
If it’s been a while since your identity was stolen, you may still have options by reporting the issue to your bank or credit card company and discussing the matter. This, in combination with record-keeping features of online payments as well as new security measures introduced by recent technology, can make online payments a safer option than traditional methods of payment whether or not you notice fraudulent payments immediately after they are made. Payments made by mail, especially those made in cash, can be very difficult to reverse even when identity theft occurs. Making payments online is an excellent means to protect you and your money for these reasons.