Welcome to Our Blog
Tech CU’s thoughts and insights about topics of interest.
Goodbye Grinches: How to Spend Safely Online
If there were ever a year to do your holiday shopping online—this is it! The convenience and the physical safety is more important now than ever. But what about your card’s safety?
When it comes to online shopping, we all know some basic don’ts: Don’t give out your card information to just anyone. Don’t click on links in suspicious emails. Don’t use public Wi-Fi when making transactions. But, as the world becomes more digitally advanced, so do the pitfalls of online purchasing. Not to fear! Tech CU is ready to offer our tips for spending your cookie dough safely online this holiday season.
Avoid Grinches with Credit
According to CISA, credit cards are considered safer than debit cards when purchasing online, and for good reason! Using a credit card may limit your personal liability if fraudsters attack, and could put added distance between your money and their grinchy hands. This can also help prevent your credit score from being affected by fraudulent purchases.
Speaking of credit, using your credit card has many other advantages, like helping you build your credit score or earn rewards with certain purchases. You can check your credit score for free online with us.
Set Some Fa-La-Limits
Holiday spending can get the best of anyone—setting a card limit can help you stay on-budget and aware of all your seasonal spending. What’s more, setting a limit can help mitigate risks if someone, such as your curious kid, starts making a purchase on your computer when you’re not looking!
If you want help with setting limits, our Card Manager can assist with spending controls, transaction monitoring, and other fraud prevention services.
Use Secure Websites
Not all websites are created equal: some are safer than others. Before you add to cart, be sure the website you’re on is secure, meaning that your data will be encrypted and will therefore be less vulnerable to swindlers and hackers. To check, simply ensure the site’s URL starts with “https://”—the ‘s’ stands for “secure.” Browsers even display a padlock icon next to the URL for good measure!
Yule Want to Check Your Banking
Watching chestnuts roasting on an open fire is fun, but monitoring your banking can be even more satisfying! We’ve made it easy with our Online Banking, which you can sign up for now if you haven’t already. Or, access your account with Tech CU’s Mobile Banking, which puts your checking accounts at your fingertips. Easily check your accounts and manage your alerts so you can get back to those chestnuts…
Spruce Up Your Personal Security
A strong, unique password is always going to be a game-changer when it comes to online safety. Keeping your computer’s software and trusted virus protections up to date will also give you added security. As 2021 rolls in, make it your New Year’s resolution to update your software and never reuse passwords!
Have Any Questions?
If anything does go awry or you want to learn more about fraud, visit us online. Or, simply request a callback and we’ll contact you directly, no need to wait on hold!
Back to Blog
