It will not be exaggerating even by an iota if it is said that money is something that is ‘delicately powerful.’ It is delicate because it needs constant care, attention and monitoring to manage or else it will flow into channels that are not only unnecessary and unproductive but are also very harmful for your financial health.
On the other hand, it is the most powerful thing on earth and it needs no further explanation to establish it. Can you live a day without it?
Given such diverse nature of money, you will need proper knowledge, due diligence and an immaculate plan to manage your finance. Without the use of the finance tools and apps this is something that will be hard to achieve. These apps and tools will help you to manage your finance quickly, easily and effectively and along with it provide you with some other benefits such as save you a lot of time as well as money.
Now, there can be lots of questions that may come to your mind when it comes to using these finance apps and tools such as:
- How safe are these tools to use given that fact that money is very sensitive and your financial information is highly valuable?
- How will you know that you are not risking your money by using a given finance management or budgeting tool?
- How can you be sure that no one else can hack to your bank account and leave you in utter surprise with all your savings gone?
These questions are common and quite natural concerns about the privacy of your financial data. According to August report of The Clearing Houseit is seen that, approximately two-thirds of the consumers who have an account in a bank are always either very or extremely concerned about the privacy of their data while using any non-bank apps for their moneyrelated tasks.
About the risks
In order to use your finance apps and tools safely you will need to first know the risks involved in using these.
The reason for such concerns over the risks is that to make these apps work for your needs, you will need to provide your bank data to it. That means, there is a very good chance that the app will ask you for your bank login details. This is required to get your data and do the job the app is assigned with.
Most of the people in the banking industry often view this practice to be risky. There are few reasons for this.
- One, you will be literally handing over the keys to your bank account keys someone other the bank personnel during this screen scraping process
- Two, there is a valid question as to what the app is doing with your data
- Three, how much of the data you furnished is actually required by the app and used for the specific job and
- Four, who is going to pay for the damages or reimburse the money lost in case there is a hack.
Such relevant questions are worrying more and more consumers regarding the sharing of their bank credentials with these financial apps. However, such worries are good in a way as they will be more careful while using these apps or not use it at all.
About the habits
The next thing you should know is the habits of the consumers that are hardly changing. With all the apps popping up all over the online space that help people to manage their money, pay a friend back, get a loan, know about the debt settlement ratings and lots of other jobs, people start liking them and use it at free will without knowing the risks and other safety concerns.
You will even find some people who say that they are really worried about the safety and privacy of their bank data still use these finance apps and tools that run on bank data that are highly valuable.
Analysts and critics see this in a different way. They say that people like to use these apps and tool indiscriminately because they feel that the reward and satisfaction of the knowledge they can have beforehand is the thing that drives them to use these apps.
For example, knowing whether or not they are overpayingfor a loan is much worthier than the risk of supplying their bank credentials to the app to find this fact out. They find it even more useful especially when the banks do not make these features available to them.
The apps and tools help in managing finance, understand whether or not you will get a better deal for a financial transaction and help you plan your process accordingly. In short, you will be able to do what you want but more safely and in a more transparent manner. The apps will allow you to have more control over your bank data.
Reducing data risks
Though research tells otherwise, all stakeholders including banks, data aggregators, fintech, regulators, and even consumerscan significantly reduce the data risks while using the finance apps and tools by following these steps:
- Get savvier: You must get savvier and be aware while you use these apps. Get rid of the misconceptions that you may have but use only those apps that you are sure and knowledgeable about. There are several apps such as data aggregators that can sign into your bank account regularly once it has your credentials. Sometimes this can be sold. Know that and imagine the consequences.
- Read disclosures: Always read the disclosures before using a financial app to find out the benign ones and know your rights and obligations.
- The access: Always be knowledgeable about these specific apps that will have access to your bank data. If you are not using most of the apps that you have downloaded, delete them to be on the safe side.
- Lastly, always update your bank passwords so that even if an app has your bank data,, it is impossible to access without knowing the current password.
Remember, though the industry is working on the ways to address data privacy concerns the burden is mostly on you now when you sue these finance apps.
Author Bio
Marina Thomas is a marketing and communication expert. She also serves as a content developer with many years of experience. She helps clients in long-term wealth plans. She has previously covered an extensive range of topics in her posts, including Money Saving, Budgeting, Cryptocurrency, Business debt consolidation, Business and Start-ups.