Skip to main content
Discover Logo Modern Money
  • Checking Account
  • Online Savings Account
  • Money Market Account
  • Certificate of Deposit
  • IRA Certificate of Deposit
  • IRA Savings Account
  • Discover Bank Blog Home
  • Banking 101
  • Saving
  • Budgeting
  • Career & Education
  • Family Finance
  • Retirement
  • Lifestyle
  • Home
  • Banking 101
  • Saving
  • Budgeting
  • Career & Education
  • Family Finance
  • Retirement
  • Lifestyle
    • Checking Account
    • Online Savings Account
    • Money Market Account
    • Certificate of Deposit
    • IRA Certificate of Deposit
    • IRA Savings Account
    • Compare Retirement Accounts
    • Find an Account

4 simple steps to boost your checking account security

Learn how just a few safeguards can protect your checking account.

April 17, 2023

You check in regularly (maybe too regularly?) on your social media platform of choice. You frequently scroll through your inbox. You stay up to date on the latest news headlines. But how often do you check in on your checking account?

Okay, if it’s been a while, totally understandable. Your to-do list is probably keeping you plenty busy. But according to a federal government website, there were more than 2.8 million fraud reports from consumers in 2021, amounting to more than $5.8 billion in losses. Protecting your checking account, a.k.a. the home base for your finances, should be part of your financial routine to help you avoid falling victim to fraud or identity theft.

To protect your checking account, you should familiarize yourself with the safety features of an online checking account—many of which come without a fee—and take proactive steps to strengthen your account security.

A man and woman lean over a table looking at the screen of a smart phone. The woman holds a coffee mug, and the man has a mug beside him.

Ready to get started? Improve your checking account security in just four steps:

1. Understand what to look for

Protecting your checking account should start with being aware of what’s going on within your own account. “Monitoring your checking account on a consistent basis can be your first alert to potential identity theft before it has a chance to make a lasting impact on your credit report,” says Bola Sokunbi, certified financial education instructor and founder of a personal finance platform for women. 

Online and mobile banking make it easier than ever to monitor your account activity, which you can do from your computer or phone if you have a few spare minutes. When you do, look for suspicious transactions that might indicate fraud. For example:

  • Is there a purchase from an unknown merchant or location, or a transaction amount you don’t recognize?
  • Is your checking account balance much lower than you expected?
  • Was a cash withdrawal made from your account that you don’t remember initiating?

If you think you’ve identified fraudulent activity, notify your bank right away.

“Monitoring your checking account on a consistent basis can be your first alert to potential identity theft before it has a chance to make a lasting impact on your credit report.”

Bola Sokunbi, certified financial instructor and founder of a personal finance platform for women

2. Monitor your account on a regular basis

If you’ve got how to monitor your checking account down, you’re probably wondering how often you should monitor your checking account. You may want to log in to your account as often as a few times per week, or even once a day. That way, “you can catch the situation early and alert your bank immediately” if you’re concerned about any of the activity, Sokunbi says.

Another good reason why you should monitor your checking account regularly: Depending on your bank, waiting too long in between account check-ins could cost you financially.

“Your personal liability for fraudulent use of your debit card is tied to the time in which you report the problem,” says Steve Weisman, an attorney, college professor and cybersecurity expert who runs a blog about scams and cybercrime trends. “Failing to monitor your account could, in a worst-case scenario, cause you to lose your entire bank account without legal recourse.”

A woman and man stand together at a cash register paying for something with cash.

3. Learn the most important safety features of an online checking account

Fortunately, when it comes to monitoring your checking account, you’re not alone. Your bank is there to help you protect your checking account with various built-in checking account security features. Bonus: Many of these checking account security features don’t include a fee.

“Banks offer monitoring tools, but you might have to sign up for them,” Sokunbi says. “Their tools can alert you based on your spending patterns or you can set customized alerts if you spend or withdraw more than a certain amount of money.”

With a Discover checking account, for example, you can set up email and text alerts. If you know you rarely spend that much at one time, setting up an alert for every transaction over $100 is a great way to keep tabs on your account security. (It could even be a way to use a checking account as a budgeting tool.)

Discover also offers a variety of other checking account security features that automatically come with your account. Your account is proactively monitored for potential fraud, for example, and you will be alerted if anything unusual is spotted. You can even temporarily freeze your debit card if you ever misplace it and want to make sure your account is safe and sound.

4. Choose your password wisely, and be creative with security questions

You can be in control of some safety features of an online checking account, especially when it comes to your password and security questions. When setting your account password, try to avoid words or phrases that would be easy for scammers to guess, like your name or hometown. Using the same password for multiple accounts—your checking account, social media, and email accounts—could also make you more vulnerable to fraudsters. Learning one of your passwords, even a “strong” one, could mean learning them all.

The security questions on your account—the questions you select and answer in case additional verification beyond your password is needed—are also crucial to your checking account security. Be mindful of the security questions you select and how you answer them. Fraudsters could use public information about you, from family histories to your social media profiles, to attempt to compromise your account.

“It is often a simple matter for a determined identity thief to research the answer to your security question and be in a position to change your password,” Weisman says. “For instance, it is not difficult to find out what your mother’s maiden name is.”

Instead, Weisman recommends being creative—even humorous—with the answers to your security questions. “For example, you could provide ‘fire truck’ as your mother’s maiden name,” Weisman says. “It is so silly you will remember it, and no identity thief will ever guess it.”

The Federal Trade Commission received more than 2.8 million fraud reports from consumers in 2021, amounting to more than $5.8 billion in losses.

Start today with simple steps to protect your checking account

Protecting your checking account doesn’t require a huge time investment. Steps like brushing up on your account’s security features and creating a strong password could be knocked out today, and regularly monitoring your checking account becomes easy once it’s part of your financial routine. Give yourself the gift of peace of mind, and start safeguarding your checking account today.

Looking for more financial safety tips? Learn how to protect your bank account from hackers next. 

Articles may contain information from third-parties. The inclusion of such information does not imply an affiliation with the bank or bank sponsorship, endorsement, or verification regarding the third-party or information.

Take your financial knowledge to new heights

Sign up for our quarterly Modern Money newsletter.

Enter a valid email address.
Send me articles about (optional)
  • Saving
  • Budgeting
  • Retirement
  • All of the above
Please verify that you are not a robot.

By providing your email address, you are consenting to receive the Modern Money newsletter from Discover. Subscribing to this newsletter will not impact any other email preference you may have with Discover.

Loading…

Discover Bank, Member FDIC

Was this article helpful?

  • Yes this article was helpful.
  • No this article was not helpful.

Tags:

  • Managing Your Account
  • Mobile App
  • Mobile Banking
  • Online Banking
  • Online Checking Account
  • Quick Tips
  • Security
Related Article
7 tips to manage your checking account
Close
  • Share article on facebook.
  • Share article on twitter.
  • Share article on linked in.

Related Content

6 tips for managing a checking account in college
How to recover from scams
Protect your bank account from hackers: 6 steps

Banking on Your Terms

Checking Account: Enjoy Everyday Checking and Earn Cash Back While Doing It
Checking Account
Online Savings Account: Imagine an Online Savings Account Without the Monthly Fees
Online Savings Account
Money Market Account: Get the Best of Both Worlds: Flexibility and High Yields
Money Market Account
Certificate of Deposit: Lock in Your APY and Reap the Returns
Certificate of Deposit
Individual Retirement Accounts: Make Saving for Retirement a Lot Easier
Individual Retirement Accounts
Quick Quiz: Find the Account That's Right For You
Quick Quiz
Back To Top

Online Banking Products

  • Checking Account
  • Online Savings Account
  • Money Market Account
  • Certificate of Deposit
  • IRA Certificate of Deposit
  • IRA Savings Account
  • Compare Retirement Accounts
  • Find an Account
  • CD Rates

Help and Resources

  • FAQ
  • ATM Locator
  • Forms and Documents
  • Secure Document Upload
  • Mobile Banking
  • Digital Wallets
  • Features and Benefits
  • Modern Money Blog
  • FDIC Insurance

Other Discover Products

  • Credit Cards
  • Home Loans
  • Personal Loans
  • Student Loans

About Discover

  • About Discover
  • Financial Education
  • Investor Relations
  • Merchants
  • Newsroom
  • Sitemap
  • Terms of Use
  • Security Center
  • Privacy
  • Your California Privacy Choices
  • Contact Us
  • AdChoices
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

©2023 Discover Bank, Member FDIC

Discover

© 2023 Discover Bank, Member FDIC

  • Equal Housing Lender
  • Equal Housing Lender
  • Equal Housing Lender

You are leaving Discover.com

You are leaving Discover.com and entering a website operated by a third party. We are providing the link to this website for your convenience, or because we have a relationship with the third party. Discover Bank does not provide the products and services on the website. Please review the applicable privacy and security policies and terms and conditions for the website you are visiting. Discover Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of any financial tools that may be available on the website or their applicability to your circumstances. For personal advice regarding your financial situation, please consult with a financial advisor.

Continue