Online Banking Privacy

The days of going to the bank to complete transactions are beginning to be a thing of the past.  In today's society, people are turning to the Internet for banking. With this being said, it is important that people take the necessary precautions to protect themselves and their account from fraud.  There have been countless occasions where an individual using online banking becomes the victim of identity theft.  Identity theft is seemingly becoming the newest, safest way to rob a bank.  According to Jared Thorne and Andy Segal in the CNN article, "Identity Theft: The New Way to Rob a Bank," identity theft losses to financial institutions account for $47 billion, as where the traditional bank robberies in the United States account for around $77 million (http://articles.cnn.com/2006-05-18/us/identity.theft_1_identity-theft-bank-employee-bank-heist?_s=PM:US).  As one can see, identity theft is a major issue when it comes to Internet banking.  People are scared that Internet hackers will be able to break into the systems and steal their money.  Before people completely forget the idea of banking online, they should look for ways in which banks are increasing their privacy protections for online users. 

Banks today realize the importance of providing a safe and secure way for their customers to bank online.  As a result, they go through great lengths in order to protect one's security and make sure his or her financial information is secure.  For example, banks will time your sessions online.  At Bank of America, if one leaves his or her bank account on for a certain amount of time without using it, the session will automatically be logged out.  Personally, I use Bank of America, and they use a SiteKey for identification purposes.  This is a photo that is shown before I log in to my bank account online.  Only the bank and myself know this photo.  Other banks use this feature as well.  For example, in order to protect individuals online, Nationwide Bank uses password-controlled entry, SafeKeys, multiple levels of firewalls, Security Sockets Layer, and additional security measures (http://www.nationwide.com/secure-online-banking.jsp).  All of these provisions have helped enhance the privacy and security of online banking.

Although the individual banks work to protect the privacy of their customers, it is also important for the clients to take the necessary precautions to protect their own identity as well.  Nationwide gives a list of tips that customers can use themselves, along with the banks security settings, that will help secure their identity (http://www.nationwide.com/protection-from-identity-theft.jsp).  Some precautions that individuals can take themselves include securely disposing printed account statements, not leaving personal information where others can see them, not giving personal information out over the phone, and most importantly, keep and list and monitor your financial transactions.  Taking part in the precautionary steps, along with the security settings by the banks, will help ensure privacy while partaking in online banking.