November 19, 2024

Keep Your Cards Secure When Holiday Shopping - Money Tip Tuesday

3 minutes

While the holiday season ramps up, it’s important to remember that holiday shoppers aren’t the only busy ones this year. Identity thieves and scammers take advantage of this busy season to steal information.

While you’re out there in-person or shopping online, make sure you guard your cards and card information to ensure your transactions are secure.

Links:

Learn more about secure password managers like LastPass

Learn more about Google Pay, Apple Pay, PayPal

Add your Triangle cards to a mobile wallet for secure and convenient payment

Check out TCU University for more financial education tips and resources!

Learn more about Triangle Credit Union

Transcript:

Welcome to Money Tip Tuesday from the Making Money Personal podcast.

We all do our shopping however we feel most comfortable. Some love going out to a physical store to explore the shelves and find that perfect gift. Others like to comfortably camp out on the couch and browse websites for their holiday hunt.

Whichever way you choose to shop this year, remember to keep security top of mind.

Fraud attempts increase significantly during the shopping season so it’s important to consider whether anything insidious is hiding behind that tempting email, social media ad or website.

Scammers want your payment information. They target credit card transactions both in-person and online in hopes to steal information from as many unsuspecting shoppers as they can.

This holiday, remember to guard your payment information whenever and wherever you pay.

For those who prefer shopping online keep these security tips top of mind before you go through the checkout.

Make sure the website is secure. Look for the lock icon at the top URL address bar to ensure information being transmitted is encrypted.

Don't save your card information in browsers. Instead use a secure digital wallet or vault like LastPass.

Don’t make payments over unsecured WI-FI or mobile networks. Scammers and hackers can monitor public, unsecured Wi-Fi sources to intercept sensitive data that might be transmitted

Use an online payment company that doesn’t use card numbers like Google Pay, Apple Pay or PayPal.

For those who still shop in-person bad actors can still target your physical card transactions. Remember these tips when using your cards out in public.

When using self-pay locations like gas stations, stand-alone ATMs and parking terminals, remember to examine the pump or terminal for any signs of tampering, cameras or card skimmers.

Use the contactless payment method for physical cards instead of inserting the EMV chip or swiping the magnetic strip. Contactless methods are more secure when transmitting data

Don’t shy away from using your phone’s mobile wallet to store your cards. Mobile wallets keep all your card information secure; they transmit encrypted codes rather than card information during payment and you get the bonus of no longer needing to carry around physical cards.

If you lose your physical card, immediately lock it from any future use until you can find it or report it as lost to the credit card company

One final way to keep your cards secure is to get into the habit of monitoring all transactions. Set up transaction alerts to get instant notifications any time your card is charged so that way if suspicious activity occurs you can report it right away.

If there are any other tips or topics you'd like us to cover, let us know at [email protected]. Like and follow our Making Money Personal FB and IG page, and look for our sponsor, Triangle Credit Union, on social media to share your thoughts.

Thanks for listening to today's Money Tip Tuesday, and be sure to check out our other tips and episodes on the Making Money Personal podcast.

Have a great day!

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By Triangle Credit Union

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