So as you know, NCIX, Equifax, Target, JPM, have all been victims of data breaches. I am going to show you, the consumer, how to prevent and protect yourself from future data breaches. In my other posts, The Perfect Banking Setup V2 and The Perfect Banking Setup were both largely designed with security in mind.
I will zoom into the credit card section and suggest how you should be spending:
1. I use my credit card to pay for everything, including online shopping. I carry it in my wallet daily.
2. I rarely ever pull out my debit card. However, I use it monthly to pay off my credit card or occasionally to withdraw cash
3. This is tucked away safely in my house. I never carry this in my wallet unless I need to go to the bank for an abnormally large transaction or discuss my investments.
1. Do Not Use Debit Cards Online!
Credit cards = spending money you don’t have
Debit cards = spending your own money
The best way to protect yourself from a financial data breach is to spend on credit when online! Almost all credit cards have built-in protection against fraud. If your card info is compromised and someone is charging your card, just simply call your credit card company and report a fraudulent transaction.
2. Use Your Banking Account to Pay Credit Cards Only!
In fact, if you take a look at my checking account:
You can see that in my 3 months span, I’ve only paid my credit cards in full, transfer in, and transfer out money. I don’t ever input my debit card in machines or online and it makes it really easy to spot something off.
3. Use Your Credit Card for Purchases
I like to use Mint.com, as it instantly syncs with all my credit card info and I can see exactly what I bought each month.
Here’s my credit card ledger (Mint):
I only sync credit cards so that purchases aren’t confused with deposits/withdrawals.
There you have it! Even if a large corporation (NCIX or Ebay) had their servers compromised, and my entire credit card info was found, I wouldn’t be worried because a fraudulent transaction would be near impossible to sneak into my account.