There are numerous ways to ensure you stay safe when paying online. Check out some of the gambling industry’s top tips below for more.
Tips To Stay Safe When Paying Online: Everything You Need To Know
One of the critical concerns among online casino enthusiasts worldwide is how to stay safe when paying online. Thanks to modern technology, smartphone and tablet casino gaming has taken precedence over traditional gaming platforms like PCs and laptops.
As if safety issues weren’t prevalent enough, smartphone gaming security has added another dimension to the already complicated security situation. Conducting payments via this gaming platform is widespread but continuously raises concerns, especially with inexperienced punters.
However, the creators of this technology understand their market and have made continuous efforts to ensure security. For example, a user can hold their smartphone next to a point-of-sale terminal to perform a mobile payment. The POS terminal reads the payment information off of the device, which simplifies and shortens the process. Here’s a complete guide about this technology and how to stay safe while using it.
Ways To Stay Safe When Paying Online: Useful Tips
Overall, conducting payments using your smartphone is safer than traditional payment platforms in many ways. For example, hackers find it much more challenging to get your data in a breach.
The reason for the increased safety is that there isn’t a “transaction” that takes place during mobile payments in the traditional sense. In other words, a transfer of actual financial information does not occur. Instead, the transaction goes through by using a coded version of your debit or credit card information while authorizing a payment.
However, despite being safer than numerous traditional payment methods, you should still consider several factors when looking to use mobile payments. These factors include:
- Keeping your credit card account under constant observation
- Choosing a credit in favor of a debit card
- Avoiding using public wi-fi networks to send sensitive information
- Ensuring strong password protection
- Only downloading trustworthy apps
- Choosing trusted and safe payment platforms.
Keep Your Credit Card Account Under Constant Observation
Checking your credit card transactions is often one of the crucial aspects of owning a credit card account. This aspect becomes even more critical when performing smartphone-based financial transactions. Track money moving through your account by using all of the precautions at your disposal to stay safe when paying online.
Observing your credit card account more frequently will make it easy to spot any inkling of suspicious activity. If you notice something amiss, immediately report your concerns to your debit or credit card provider. From there, you can quickly receive a new account number and new cards to avoid fraudulent charges. Reporting unusual account activity is the only way to protect against becoming liable for your card payments.
Choose A Credit Card In Favor Of A Debit Card
You’ve probably heard this before, but debit cards are less secure than credit cards. When looking at fraud protection alone, debit card companies invest less in their security protocols than credit card operators. Additionally, numerous credit cards feature a zero fraud liability policy. This policy protects the credit card holder from any fraudulent charges made to their account by a third party.
On the other hand, debit cards do not feature such intricate or detailed protection. If any money disappears from your bank account, there is no policy in place to protect you from becoming liable. Even if your bank manages to recover the money, the process of sorting things out with your new card may take a while. Therefore, a credit card is the better option because you’re not liable for fraudulent charges, whereas you become responsible if you have a debit card.
Avoid Using Public Wi-Fi Networks To Send Sensitive Information
When looking to stay safe when paying online, avoiding public Wi-Fi networks is common sense. While these networks may be available for altruistic motives, nothing stops sneaky individuals from using these networks to their advantage. In other words, surfing the web is fine, but you should abstain from sending sensitive information via these networks. The reason is that if a person can access a public wi-fi network, they can just as easily access the data sent through that network.
Consequently, whenever you use your smartphone to conduct a purchase via such a wi-fi network, a person with the know-how can intercept your payment info. Using home wi-fi is much safer for sending personal information or making online purchases. When performing such operations outside of your home, it’s always better to use your mobile carrier’s network.
Ensure Strong Password Protection
You can use a unique password PIN to protect your smartphone, but you can never eliminate the risk of “shoulder-surfing.” This term describes the practice of a criminal peeking over your shoulder to memorize your password as you enter it into your device. Having a passcode is crucial if you have any payment information on your phone because a thief can easily access this information if you don’t have any security measures in place (using methods like SIM swapping, for example).
Additionally, ensuring your password is secure is just as critical, and going with “1234,” “0000,” or something similar is out of the question. Simultaneously, when looking to stay safe when paying online, it is vital to allow security updates and new security features on your device. Compared to a mere passcode, facial recognition and fingerprint scanners can add more protection to your smartphone.
Only Download Trustworthy Apps
Your payment information will require storage in some part of your device, meaning that you should only ever consider trustworthy apps for this purpose. Generally speaking, you should always exercise caution when downloading apps to your device.
The reason for this is that numerous smartphone applications come with malware and spyware. These apps work by sending valuable information to hackers without letting you know what’s happening and capture your payment information. So, a trustworthy source for downloading apps is pivotal.
For example, one of the best ways of ensuring you’re downloading casino apps from reliable sources is to download them directly from your chosen online casinos. Selecting a trustworthy casino is just as vital when looking to ensure a safe online gambling and payment experience, but selecting the right casino can be just as challenging. We recommend checking out a resource like onlinecasinocrawler.com to find licensed, reputable, and safe online casinos and avoid problems down the road.
Additionally, it is also possible to lose your phone or have it stolen. Acting quickly is critical in such a situation. If your payment information is accessible from your device, you should not leave anything to chance.
Choose Trusted & Safe Payment Platforms
Always opt for the software built into your phone if you’re looking to add your personal payment information to your device. The safest alternatives to your device’s innate software are Google Wallet, Chase Pay, and a range of cryptocurrency wallets (which aren’t 100% hack proof, as some crypto hacking instances have shown). These apps do not store your debit or credit card details.
Hackers even resort to creating apps specifically to steal banking information from casino players. Consequently, when looking to stay safe when paying online, research each app thoroughly before downloading it and uploading your personal and banking information.