Understanding Online Banking: Safe, Simple, and Smart

Understanding Online Banking: Safe, Simple, and Smart explores how to confidently manage your finances in a digital world. This episode breaks down the basics of online banking, from everyday transactions to key security practices that help protect your information. Whether you’re new to online banking or looking to feel more secure using it, you’ll gain practical tips to navigate your finances with ease and confidence.

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Coast Capital Savings, a proud supporter of the Thrive Program since 2020, is a member-owned financial cooperative with an 80-year-old legacy of unlocking financial opportunities that positively impact people and communities. Driven by their social purpose of building better futures together, they look at everything they do through the lens of how they can help their 600,000 members, employees, and communities. Ranked in the platinum category of the 2022 Corporate Knights Social Purpose Ranking and a proud Certified B Corporation Registered, they're part of a global movement building a more inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economic system. Each year, they invest 10% of their bottom line into local communities, which over the past two decades totals $100 million. To learn more, visit them online at coastcapitalsavings.com.

Welcome to the THRIVE Podcast, an open space to celebrate diversity, share our perspectives, and promote the abilities of youth with disabilities. THRIVE is a program at the BC Centre for Ability and is generously sponsored by Coast Capital Savings.

This podcast is produced on the traditional lands of the Coast Salish peoples. I'm your host and producer, Anu Pala. Welcome back to our Financial Literacy series, where we explore everyday money topics in practical, accessible ways. Today, we're talking about online banking. For some, managing money digitally feels convenient and empowering. For others, it can feel confusing, risky, or not designed for everyone. And that's completely valid. Wherever you are in your comfort with technology, you're welcome here. So take a breath, settle in, and let's begin. And with me once again is Brenda Mah, Coast Capital Savings Financial Education Manager. Hey, Brenda. 

Brenda: Hi, Anu. Thanks for having me. 

Anu: Thanks for coming on again. Today's topic is online banking. You know, when I think about banking, it reminds me when I was a little girl watching my dad do his banking for his business and personal stuff as well. I remember him getting all his things ready and going to the bank with his bank book and everything. It reminds me of even when I was a little girl when I had my own little bank book as well. But of course, with technology, things have really changed. So today we're going to talk about the benefits of online banking. Brenda, why is it better to do online banking? 

Brenda: So Anu, one of the main reasons to do online banking is for convenience. Gone are the days where people need to stand in line to deposit their checks and pay their bills. Nowadays, you can do everything from the comfort of your home in your PJs at whatever hour of the night you choose to do that. 

Anu: And I have done that many times. 

Brenda: Yeah, so really the convenience myself, if I didn't work at a bank, I would never have to actually go in. Banks open only during certain hours and everyone is busy, everyone has jobs and not everyone can get into the bank during those hours. So with the new online banking, you're able to pay your bills, deposit your checks and do your banking whenever it's convenient for you. So one of the other reasons that individuals are moving more towards online banking is for safety and security. In terms of fraud, we're seeing more and more individuals have their mail stolen because fraudsters are out there trying to collect your information so that they can try and access your account. So definitely if you can move your banking to online banking so that your statements are not at risk, I would definitely consider that. It's also lower in terms of service charge because it's better for the environment and the financial institutions are not having to pay for paper and postage. They typically will pass those costs down to their customers and so they'll usually have lower service charge accounts if you're not actually getting statements. And it also saves you time in terms of having to go all the way down to a bank to actually do your transactions. There's a lot of different features that you can access with online banking that are really beneficial, like tracking your spending. Some of the institutions have online apps that will track where you spend your money, which will help you actually manage your finances a little bit better. As well, you know, there's some certain security features such as low balance alerts or unusual transactions alerts where you are notified if there's anything unusual that goes through your account. You can also reduce paper. Again, I was saying it before, it's a little bit more sustainable and you can utilize the security features to deactivate your card should you lose it or reset your PIN. 

Anu: I like the fact that we get those text alerts now as well. If it looks like somebody is tampering with your account, you might get a text message or an email. Again, like everything has pros and cons, but I mean, I do really appreciate that feature, but one has to be careful as well because those fraudsters are always out there trying to pull a fast one. So I think we have to be very, very careful. So if we get any kind of alerts like that, I always say just contact your institution to confirm that that message indeed came from them. 

Brenda: Yeah, so definitely if you're going to use online banking, there's a lot of best practices that we suggest you use to ensure that your account is safe and that your information is safe. So some of the best practices, making sure you use a strong password. So don't use something that could be easily guessed, you know, birthdates, addresses, things like that. If someone picks up your wallet, it's easy or your phone, it's easy for them to figure out. Make sure you use really strong passwords and then change your passwords regularly. So making sure that you are, you know, regularly changing, have it, you know, put a reminder on your phone to change it every few months and then utilizing the multi-factor authentication. So like Anu, you were saying, like getting those texts in case anyone tries to access your account so that you can contact your financial institution right away is really, really important. Some other things to consider, never use public Wi-Fi. So it's actually quite amazing how easy it is for individuals and fraudsters to hop onto your devices when you're using public Wi-Fi like that. So it's really important to keep your antivirus software up to date to make sure that your devices are properly protected. Make sure you log out after each session and be aware of anything that you're going to click on that is from a legitimate source. 

Anu: I've heard that sometimes people might do their banking at the airport while they're waiting for a flight. So really try to avoid doing your banking in public spaces like that. That's what you're saying. 

Brenda: Yes. If you do need to do any banking, let's say you've got your laptop open and you're wanting to do some banking, instead of actually hopping onto the public Wi-Fi, try and hotspot off your phone. You can utilize the data off your phone to power your laptop rather than actually logging on to that public Wi-Fi. It's a little more secure. 

Anu: Yeah, I've done that many times. I think that's a much more safer way of doing things for sure. How can we as the general public be more aware of the types of phishing scams that are out there? 

Brenda: Yeah, so typically there's a couple different phishing scams. So there's spear phishing and spear phishing is typically when fraudsters will send you an email to try and get you to click. The email is targeted, so it's more targeted towards yourself. It'll be customized, it'll have your name on it, and it'll be, you know, something that you may or may not be expecting. So when you are getting an email, always double check and see whether or not it's actually from a legitimate source. So hovering your mouse over the email address will actually show you what the true email address is. Often I get an email and it seems like it's from a legitimate source, but when I actually, you know, hover over it, it is like some random Hotmail address. And, you know, for example, maybe the email is from Telus. Well, Telus is not going to use a Hotmail address. So double check, double check for any spelling mistakes or if they're asking you to click on any links. So anytime they're asking you to click on any links or open any attachments is when you want to really be aware. The other kind of phishing scams are just general phishing. So it might be just a general email from TELUS saying that they have an offer, click here to access more information on the offer. And so it's something that goes out to masses and it's a little more general and it can look very legitimate because they're able to mass that email address. Yeah, I've received many emails like that and I never click on them because it just doesn't feel right. So sometimes just going with your gut is good too. 

Brenda: That's a great tip, Anu. Always go with your gut. 

Anu: Your gut never lies, they say. What other benefits are there to online banking? 

Brenda: Yeah, so depending on the financial institution, there's a lot of other benefits they offer when you go and use your online banking. So for example, some will have credit monitoring, so they'll be able to allow you to access a peek at your credit. This is a service that they've obviously paid for for their members to have with the monitoring companies. And the other thing would be spending insights. So you have the ability to track your spending. It might summarize your expenses so that you can see clearly where your money goes. And that's a really great tool if you're trying to build your budget at the time. Coast Capital has many tools within the app that you can use to manage your finances, track your spending, and build a plan for your funds. Definitely, I would look at what your financial institution online banking app offers and take advantage of some of those resources. 

Anu: I'm going to put you on the spot for a second. What is one of your favorite features of online banking?

Brenda: I think one of my favorite features of online banking is being able to deposit a check on the go. So you no longer have to stand in line to deposit a chequelike you used to. And you also don't have to even go into an ATM. Most financial institutions now have the option to mobile deposit. So that means you just take a picture of your chequelike front and back and it automatically deposits that straight into your account. So that's one of my favorite features. I literally do not need to go into a bank anymore because it is like so convenient and you can do it at any hour from anywhere. 

Anu: I have heard of this feature. I have not tried it yet, but I definitely would like to and see how that goes. But I think that's pretty amazing. 

Brenda: Yeah, it gives you access to your funds right away so that you're not having to wait till you can get into the bank. 

Anu: One of my favorite features is e-transfers. I love being able to just, I hate owing people money. That's one thing about me. I just hate it. Even if it's like $10 or something, whatever it is, you know, I just don't like having that hanging on my shoulder. So the ability to be able to independently go into the app and do that e-transfer, it just makes me feel so good. And accepting money is really great too. I don't have to wait for someone to pay me back. Or nowadays, I do contract work, as you know, and so a lot of my clients pay me by e-transfer. And so just having that ability of accepting the payment right away when the work is done. It's so much nicer than having to wait for a cheque. See, in the past, I'd have to have somebody read me that information. But of course, now with technology, I can at least read the content. And of course, with the feature that you shared, that even if I did receive a cheque, I can independently deposit it via the app. It's just amazing. It really shows like how far we've come and how much banking has evolved, you know, in general, thanks to technology. 

Brenda: Yeah, it's just so much more convenient. You don't have to go in to get a statement. You have everything at your fingertips, even like your tax slips are right there available to you at any time. So definitely take advantage of the online banking feature, but use precaution, of course.

Anu: Just from an accessibility perspective, because a lot of the listeners who may be listening to this podcast series may use assistive technology or have different needs. When accessing anything online, I would really encourage banks and other institutions or any companies really to make sure that their websites and online platforms are fully accessible. That might mean having subject matter experts test their platforms out to ensure that they are actually accessible. Because I have used certain platforms that just are not that accessible. So even though we're saying that it's really convenient and everything, but I just want to also acknowledge that there are challenges with using online platforms like this as well. 

Brenda: Great feedback. It's definitely something to consider as, you know, organizations build out their platforms, for sure. 

Anu: I always say get people involved from the get-go rather than going back and having to fix something. You know, I just wanted to make a point about that because, yes, they offer a lot of convenience, especially for people with disabilities who may not be able to, you know, get out to their branch to do their banking. When a platform is not accessible, it could pose a lot of other challenges or barriers as well. So Brenda, any final thoughts before we wrap up today's episode? 

Brenda: Thanks, Anu. I would just say, you know what, online banking is another tool for you to make your life a little bit easier. Don't be afraid of it. Try it out. It will save you some time. It's much more convenient. But, you know, you also need to be comfortable. If you're not comfortable with it, that's okay. 

Anu: Thanks again for taking time out of your busy day to be with us today, Brenda. 

Brenda: Thank you for having me. 

Anu: And thank you, everyone, for joining us. And we'll see you in the next one. 

This brings us to the end of our episode. I want to give out a huge shout out to Coast Capital Savings for their ongoing support of the THRIVE program. Thank you so much. I hope that today's topic resonated with you. And if it did, remember to share it far and wide with your networks. You never know who it might help. And while you're doing that, remember to like, follow and leave a review. Thanks for listening and we'll see you next time.