Enhancing Online Purchase Security: Small Changes for Safer Transactions

The Danger of In-Person Transactions Making online purchases can be a stressful experience but users can implement small changes that make their systems more secure. When making purchases in store, a user’s credit card information can be scanned and stolen using a card reader that slips over a normal credit card machine. Employees and other customers can gain access to your sensitive information or pin number. 

The Importance of Record Keeping. 

An informed user should always keep personal records of their online purchases and should document confirmation emails, so that any discrepancies can be quickly resolved. When maintaining active records, compromised cards can quickly be canceled and a new card can be issued. Most banks provide fraud protection when a user’s credit card information is used to make an unauthorized purchase and will often reverse the charge. 


Making Informed Choices Online

Purchases should not be made from shared corporate Wi-Fi like a library or Starbucks. Users can use free online password generators to create passwords of at least 8-12 characters. A secure password can be written in a private notebook that will only be used to keep records of purchases and make online purchases from home. Passwords can be easily updated and stored in the notebook to increase security whenever a suspicion arises. Making purchases only from well-known websites entices users to make purchases from corporations over small family-owned businesses; however, double checking a website's URL includes https:// before making a purchase and using strong passwords that contain numbers, symbols, and both lowercase and uppercase letters increases security when making purchases on the web. 


The Power of Digital Wallets

Digital wallets, such as Apple Pay, Venmo, or PayPal provide an added layer of protection by implementing tokenization to make payments. Instead of using your actual credit card information to make purchases, tokens confirm payments. If a dangerous hacker gains access to your token information it cannot be used to make further payments or to access your actual credit card information. Additionally a user can limit a digital wallet to only allow authorized expenses up to a safe amount.


While some risk exists when making any purchase whether in-store or online, embracing record keeping, exercising caution when choosing which sites to purchase from, and harnessing the security features of digital wallets, empowers a user to navigate an online payment system with confidence and peace of mind.

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