Credit card fraud has drastically increased over the past few years. This means it's more important than ever to protect your personal information.
Here are five ways to help you spend safely and guard your sensitive data.
Review your spending history
One of the most important things that you can do as a consumer is to proactively monitor your accounts. Each month when your statements arrive go through them item by item. If you see anything that doesn’t look right then you should call your credit card company or bank immediately.
We suggest setting up usage alerts on your credit card. Each time your credit card is used you will be notified.
Consider a contactless card
Contactless cards show an image of four curved lines somewhere on the card. You can tap the card over a sensor when you go to pay instead of inserting the chip into a reader. Rather than giving the merchant your credit card number, the card sends a one-time code—just like the chip.
Use mobile payments
Most smart devices have a digital wallet. You add your credit or debit card information and then you can use your smart device to pay when retailers offer the option. Digital wallets work by transmitting a unique, random transaction number to the merchant instead of your card number.
Alert the card issuer
Credit card issuers offer zero-liability fraud protection. This means if a transaction appears on your account that you didn't make, you can alert the card issuer and follow their process for reporting the crime. You won't have to pay for purchases you didn't make.
Request a new card
If you find out that your card's information has been compromised, then you may need to request a new card. This means that the information the hacker might have received will be useless to them.
By using these tips you can do your best to keep your money and your information safe.