It is very important to use your Citibank credit card with a bit of extra diligence, especially in the current scenario. Using cash is out of the question. Using debit cards and credit cards at the moment is a very practical option and everyone needs to understand this. Your credit cards for excellent credit present a very flexible option to make payments for all your routine expenses and bigger expenditures as well. Making sure that all your transactions are 100% safe and secure is always your concern. But at a time like this when online / digital / credit transactions are the only way to make purchases, it becomes even more critical to ensure that your finances are safe and you don't end up in any kind of a pickle.
Following is a list of a few tips that will prove to be very useful when you are trying to ensure secure transactions through your credit card for excellent credit:
Reviewing Your Credit Card Transactions
It is advised not to wait for your monthly statements to review your credit card transactions / activity. You need to be quite proactive if you want to check for any fraudulent charges on your financial instrument. Make sure to log in to your account once a week or at least in 10 days. You should never even ignore any small charges and fee amounts even if they are charged once in a while. An amount of $1 might seem very insignificant at the moment but there are very enterprising and clever credit card thieves out there that can charge a series of small amounts / purchases on your card to see if it is still active or not and this could result in a massive loss. If you are not actively reviewing your credit card statements, it could lead to some larger fraudulent purchases on your credit card which will be very difficult to recover from.
Stay Aware Of Scammers And Skimmers
Yes, if you are not careful while using your Citibank credit card for excellent credit, fraudsters and cyber criminals that are commonly in possession of some really high tech gadgets such as "skimmers" will be able to collect your card data at any ATM machine or maybe some automated gas pumps that you have recently visited. These skimmers can be used to collect critical credit card information from the card slot / pin pad and you won't even notice when the fraud has been committed. These look like a part of the machine and cannot be detected that easily, thereby making them a very clever tool to extract critical information from your credit cards. Therefore, it becomes very important to monitor all your bills for any suspicious charges / activities.
Review Your Credit Reports Regularly
Remember, any unauthorized credit card charges are not going to show up on your credit reports. However, any fraudulent accounts and any unauthorized credit card applications do show up. Pulling out your credit reports once a year is a smart move. Make sure that they look correct and nothing is out of place. It is recommended that you perform at least a quarterly credit check. You can also sign up for a credit monitoring service that is fully automated and thoroughly professional. It is going to keep you updated through regular alerts and notifications if any suspicious activity is detected on your credit card account. Your reports with Equifax, Experian Or TransUnion will be completely error free and far away from any suspicious activity.
Additional Protections
You can also sign up for a few additional protection programs that many credit card companies in the market offer to online shoppers. These credit card companies will ask you for a four digit or a six digit code whenever you are about to make a purchase. Some credit card companies don't even require you to formally register for these protections. It is as simple as replying to a one time text message to get a single-use password. You can also use payment gateways that are 100% secure and provide an additional barrier between you and several online merchants. These were a few tried and tested tricks to make your credit card use safer and more secure.