Here’s an interesting news written by Michael Hatamoto of BetaNews about online banking in the US:

Study says bank Web sites leave clients vulnerable to theft

When you hop on the Internet to check your online bank statement or pay some bills, do you ever wonder how secure your bank’s computer network is? A new study claims most bank Web sites are vulnerable to identity theft.
A study done by Atul Prakash, a professor at the University of Michigan who teaches in the department of electrical engineering and computer science, found that more than 75 percent of 214 financial institutions checked in 2006 had at least one design flaw that could open up online bank users to potential identity theft. (source)

Sounds scary indeed right? Well that’s in the United States, I wonder if there’s a similar study that focuses on our local banks here in the Philippines. With the increasing rate of internet penetration, the popularity of money-less transactions via mobile phones and the internet, especially with the spread of a fully-functional PayPal services and other online banking services, security concerns over this emerging field will slowly begin to hog headlines and buzz on Philippine cyberspace.

So far, I’ve not been an active user of online banking. I only use UnionBank’s website to check my EON account to see how much money I have left in the bank or to see if my blog earnings have finally been remitted via PayPal.

My international transactions like paying for domains, webhosting and a few subscriptions to online services are all done with PayPal and so far I feel safe with them.

On the other hand, I still do local transactions ‘manually’, I still personally do the following: deposit the payments to local bank accounts of merchants I deal with, pay internet and telephone bills at their business centers, and I only use my EON card to withdraw cash from ATM machines for my daily and school expenses.

Though I’m a regular user of Globe’s G-Cash service but anything above Php3,000.00 I revert to local bank deposits or in-store transactions. And yes, up to now, I’ve never used my EON card to pay for things I’ve bought. Handing out cash payments still gives me the highest assurance that my money went to the right pockets.

Or maybe I’m just being paranoid. Since I reckon online banking is not that popular, yet, here in the country, bad guys are not that interested in it yet. Then again I may be wrong.

Anyone else having similar thoughts? What about those who are active in using online banking? Do you feel safe every time you do online banking?

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