Smart tips for managing money via smartphone
The smartphone has become so important in our daily lives, not only to help us stay in touch with people and obtain real time information, but it can even help us manage our lives and finances.
While being savvy about mobile technologies can enable us to manage money at our fingertips, anytime and anywhere, we should also be just as savvy about the associated risks.
When managing money with our smartphone, it pays to be cautious as we can also be exposed to all sorts of digital threats. Below are the tips.
1. Security: Put in place security measures
Set a screen lock with a secure password on your mobile phone to add a line of defense in case your device is lost or stolen. For digital wallets and online banking accounts, password authentication is usually the first step of identity authentication. Disable automatic login and avoid sticking the written passwords on your smartphone or smartphone cover or disclosing them to anyone.
2. Mindful: Be mindful of all your money transactions and payments
We can make payments or transfer funds through digital wallets by keying in the recipient’s phone number, e-mail address or scanning a QR code. While this is easy and convenient, we should verify the amount to be paid and the recipient before confirming payments. It would be difficult to retrieve a payment once you have sent it.
3. Alert: Do not open and delete all suspicious emails and social media messages
Online scammers can steal our important personal data such as login IDs and passwords for online banking accounts by phishing. They will entice victims to provide personal information or click on the malicious hyperlinks via phishing emails, SMS or social media texts such as Whatsapp and WeChat. When you are asked to provide personal information by someone or a company, remember to always check their identities.
4. Reliability: Use a secured Wifi network to minimise risk of hacking
It is not uncommon to use the free Wifi services provided by a shopping mall, restaurant or public facility. While it may be harmless to surf webpages or social media posts, you should avoid logging in to your emails or online banking accounts with the public Wifi to avoid the chances of being hacked. Use your own data to connect to the internet as far as possible. If not, choose the public Wifi service with secure password (with a lock sign).
5. Trustworthiness: Think twice before trusting social media
It is important not to easily trust and believe what you read on the internet and social media, especially when it comes to money matters. You may come across fake information or intentional misinformation that can hurt you financially.
Speed is the common concern of people in using their smartphone. However, when it comes to managing money via a smartphone, safety should come first before speed.
13 March 2019
