October 16, 2021

By Burton Kelso
The Technology Expert

Convenience has always been king which has lead to a surge of using cashless payment methods such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, and Venmo. However, with the convenience of cashless payments, there comes a certain set of risks. I know many of you may have a little reluctance in using cashless transactions, but in truth, these apps are safe if used correctly. One of the misconceptions is that someone can hack into your device and get access to your money, but this isn’t completely true. If you want to know how to keep your cashless transactions safe and secure, check out these quick and easy tips to keep your money and information safe.

Using cashless services are safer than actual credit card transactions because these services don’t provide credit card numbers to the merchant instead, but there are some steps you need to follow to keep your transactions safe:

1. Use different passwords for all of your online accounts. It’s very important that you keep your passwords strong and different for all of your online accounts. When you use money apps, using different passwords ensures that if one of your accounts is compromised, all of them won’t be compromised because you’re using different passwords.
2. Enable two-factor authentication on all of your money apps. Two-factor or two-step authentication it’s a process where you enable your money app to send you an alert whenever you log on from a different location or if a criminal gets your information. The first step is entering your password, the second step is to authenticate that is actually you. The authentication will come in the form of an email or a text message to your smartphone. Two-factor authentication has an extra layer of protection to keep your account safe.
3. Use a password manager for your apps. It’s a pain in the butt to keep track of all of your online passwords so one of the best things that you can do is enable a password manager for your money apps. Password managers come in different forms. You can download LastPass to keep track of all the passwords for your apps. If you don’t want to download a different app, your smartphone, tablet offers you the options to save the passwords on your devices. Many people wonder if this is a safe method, it is as long as you make sure that you keep your phone protected which leads to…
4. Make sure you password protect your phone and mobile devices. Just think of all the information cybercriminals could get if they get access to your smartphone. They have access to your banking, credit cards, and other apps that contain your financial data. Your smartphone or other mobile device is automatically encrypted when you put a password on it. So make sure that you take that extra step. Also, it makes sense in modern smartphones. Facial recognition and thumbprint identification is an easy way for you to keep your phone locked and not allow access to your device.

Want to ask me a tech question? Send it to burton@callintegralnow.com. If you prefer to connect with me on social media, you can find me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter and watch great tech tip videos on my YouTube channel. I love technology. I’ve read all of the manuals and I want to make technology fun and easy to use for everyone! If you need on-site or remote tech support for your Windows\Macintosh, computers, laptops, Android/Apple smartphone, tablets, printers, routers, smart home devices, and anything that connects to the Internet, please feel free to contact my team at Integral. My team of friendly tech experts are always standing by to answer your questions and help make your technology useful and fun. Reach out to us a www.callintegralnow.com or phone at 888.256.0829.