If you are a small business owner looking for ways to secure your financial transactions through technology, you’ve been born at the right time. There is no time better than today when it comes to building your empire. The emergence of basic financial technology will help you secure financial transactions with clients, suppliers, and customers. However, it does come with dangers, too.
Since the world has gone digital and businesses are now more connected than ever to the internet through budgeting tools, payment processing systems, and websites, there is always a possibility that hackers and cybercriminals are waiting and looking for ways to exploit information that they can access online. Business owners must be proactive in securing the financial information they have in their systems. Financial institutions, meanwhile, must make use of new and sophisticated ways of being transparent. This will help in their quest to solve problems and reduce risks.
Choosing the Right Financial Institution
Every small business owner knows how important it is to find the right partner for your financial transactions. The first step is to choose the financial institution that will handle your accounts. All businesses will need multiple accounts to better monitor the coming and going of their money. However, don’t pick the first one that offers you a good deal. Look instead at the reputation of the institution.
Many financial institutions are now looking at blockchain security as a way to expose inefficiencies and fraud in the systems. You can check out institutions that make use of reputable blockchain public relations services to protect their interests and that of the transactions they handle. This is one way to show customers that they are protective of the information shared with them through traditional and modern financial services such as savings accounts, investments, and cryptocurrencies.
Securing Devices
At the very least, small business owners should learn one important thing: the value of using one device for all business financial transactions. Instead of having to equip every device in the ecosystem with anti-virus, anti-malware, anti-ransomware, and anti-phishing software, businesses will save a lot by using just one device or computer for all major business transactions.
Say, for example, you will transfer funds to a client to pay for products and services. Don’t be tempted to use a separate device than the one you’ve used and secured earlier. That is a waste of resources since you’ve already invested in an anti-hacking program for at least one device.
You need to know how to manage your computers, too, aside from using just one device for financial transactions. If you access your bank account on your computer, make sure to log out all the accounts before you turn it off. Clear also the cookies and browser history (or use the incognito mode). Leaving the computers open and the accounts logged in will increase the likelihood of someone else seeing into your system files.
Using Password Managers
Nothing costs more money than letting unscrupulous individuals into your company computers. However, a large number of opportunities for fraud and cybercrimes happen because someone in the office has become lenient with the passcodes. If you are still writing your passwords on a notepad that you keep in your desk drawer, then the potential for hacking becomes even stronger.
Password managers are variations of fintech that will help individuals and businesses manage their usernames and passwords. These tools will keep such sensitive information in a secure digital location only the user can access. Most password managers have a great reputation for encryption and security. Just make sure to check reviews, feedback, and recommendations before paying for them.
Checking Compliance
Tech experts will tell you two important things about fintech. These are PCI level 1 compliance and two-factor authentication. These are the two most popular ways to secure transactions to and from your computer. The first one depends on the merchant processing company that encrypts financial transactions and makes them virtually incorruptible. Two-factor authentication, on the other hand, will put another layer of protection on the accounts. After entering the password, the user will receive a text message for a one-time password that you will enter once more.
Small businesses will benefit a lot from fintech if they know how to invest in it correctly. Technology, however, isn’t something that you forget about. It should be a part of your business ecosystem. Not only should you train employees on how to use it wisely, but you should also institutionalize it in everything they do. That’s the proper way to use fintech.
