Although many customers were initially wary about the safety of online banking when it was first introduced, it has in fact always been a pretty safe proposition. Strong security measures were put in place right from the start, and even though there were occasional breaches that led to a few accounts being accessed by unauthorised persons, customers were protected by a guarantee that unless any problems were caused by customer negligence, then any losses resulting from fraud would be borne by the bank and not the account holder.

However, as alluded to previously, some of the responsibility for keeping an account secure falls onto the account holder. Although in reality only the most extreme cases of negligence would lead to you being help responsible for fraudulent losses,such as logging into your account from a public computer and not logging out again, it only makes sense to do as much as we can to help security.

Firstly, you should always keep your login details safe and sound, and never give them to anyone else. If you receive an email asking that you confirm your details, ignore it - your bank will never do this and so you can safely assume it's a fraud attempt. If in doubt, phone your bank instead of replying to the email.

Whenever you've used the online banking facility, always log off properly when you've finished instead of just closing the window. You should even log off if you leave the computer only temporarily. This is especially important if you've been using a computer where someone else may have access, such as at work or in a public library, and in general you should avoid using internet cafes and the like for carrying out sensitive activities such as banking.

Setting a proper password is important. While it should be memorable for you so that you don't have to write it down - in itself a security risk, as your wallet could be stolen - it shouldn't be easily guessable. It's a bad idea to just use the name of a child or spouse, for example, as this is one of the first things a hacker would try. You should ideally use a mixture of letters and numbers, in both upper and lower case. To make it memorable you could always combine two unrelated topics in a way that you'll remember, such as the name of a favorite city paired with the year a favorite song hit the top of the charts.

Although the whole point of online banking is that there is very little paper involved, any letters and documents you receive from your bank should either be kept in a secure place (such as a locked filing cabinet) or disposed of properly. They should be shredded or burned rather than just thrown away.

Finally, no matter how strong your security is, there's always the chance that someone may somehow access your account, so you should remain vigilant. Check your accounts regularly and make sure you recognise every transaction listed. If something looks untoward, contact your bank immediately so that they can look into the matter and prevent any possible fraud from escalating and causing further damage.

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Nicholas writes for a bank accounts guide site where you can read advice on high rate savings, offset banking, and current accounts.