F E D E R A L D E P O S I T I N S U R A N C E C O R P O R A T I O N
Winter 2018
Protecting Your Assets
Tips on Financial Crimes, Mobile Banking and Raising Your Credit Score
Guarding Against
Card Reader
“Skimming” Frauds
Safety Precautions
as You
Bank on the Go
Safe Deposit Boxes,
Home Safes and
Your Valuables
Why Fixing Errors
in Credit Reports
Can Reduce Loan
Interest Rates
Property Appraisals
and Mortgage
Borrowers
Winter 2018
Protecting Your Assets
Tips on Financial Crimes, Mobile Banking and Raising Your Credit Score
Guarding Against
Card Reader
“Skimming” Frauds
Safety Precautions
as You
Bank on the Go
Safe Deposit Boxes,
Home Safes and
Your Valuables
Why Fixing Errors
in Credit Reports
Can Reduce Loan
Interest Rates
Property Appraisals
and Mortgage
Borrowers
2Winter 2018FDIC Consumer News
With advances in technology, financial
institutions are now increasingly
providing customers the ability to use
mobile phones for banking transactions
and to pay for just about anything from
a retail purchase to a restaurant bill
you’re splitting with friends. “Mobile
phones provide opportunities for
consumers to conduct their banking
transactions and make payments
from anywhere at any time,” said
FDIC Senior Technology Specialist
Deborah Shaw. “This is a convenient
and beneficial way for consumers to
incorporate banking and shopping into
their busy lives.”
Additionally, FDIC research reported in
2016 showed great potential for mobile
financial services to help “underserved”
consumers obtain more control over
their funds and better manage their bank
accounts. The FDIC defines underserved
consumers as either “unbanked” (they do
not have an account at a federally insured
financial institution) or “underbanked”
(they have an account at a banking
institution but they also obtain financial
products and services outside of the
banking system, such as check-cashing
services). The study, “Opportunities
for Mobile Financial Services to
Engage Underserved Consumers,” is
on the FDIC website at www.fdic.gov/
consumers/community/mobile/mfs_
qualitative_research_report.pdf.
Consumer concerns about safety and
security, however, continue to be
cited in Federal Reserve Board (Fed)
annual reports on mobile financial
services (most recently from 2016) as
reasons some people do not sign up.
Here is the latest overview from FDIC
Consumer News to help consumers
better understand the current state of
mobile financial services, how they
might benefit, and how they can protect
themselves against security risks.
Mobile Banking
While many people access their bank
accounts by going to their bank, using
the telephone or an ATM, or accessing
services online with their personal
computer, consumers are increasingly
A Closer Look at Mobile Banking: More Uses, More Users
What’s new, how you can benefit, and how to protect yourself from security risks
using their mobile banking options.
That might involve text messaging
the bank, accessing a bank’s website,
or using mobile applications (apps)
to check account balances, retrieve
account information or initiate financial
transactions.
The Fed survey found that 43 percent
of all mobile phone users with bank
accounts had used mobile banking in
the previous 12 months, up from 22
percent in the agency’s 2011 survey.
Among mobile banking users with
smartphones (cell phones with internet
connectivity), 53 percent with bank
accounts used mobile banking in the
previous 12 months.
“A mobile banking application makes
it easy to transfer funds within your
bank, perhaps to send money to a
child’s account there or to confirm
if you have enough funds to make a
purchase or pay a bill,” added Ben
Navarro, a policy analyst at the FDIC.
“The mobile banking app can also
often be used for payments across
banks.”
Mobile banking also can assist
consumers in making informed
decisions. According to the Fed survey,
62 percent of mobile banking users
checked their account balance on their
phone before making a large purchase
in the store, and 50 percent decided not
to purchase an item as a result of their
account balance or credit limit.
As previously reported, consumers also
can conveniently deposit checks from
practically anywhere by transmitting
an electronic image of each check
and relevant information (see the
Summer 2016 FDIC Consumer News
at www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/
news/cnsum16/photos.html). Many
consumers also are using high-tech
wristwatches (called “smartwatches”)
to read bank alerts or to make purchases
applied to their credit, debit or prepaid
cards (the latter have money deposited
on them but they are not linked to a
checking or savings account). Ask your
bank what services might be available.
And at the FDIC, we’ve been exploring
the potential for mobile banking and
mobile payments to bring more low-
and moderate-income Americans into
the financial mainstream. Recent FDIC
surveys have shown that more than one
in four households are either unbanked
or underbanked.
Additional research by the FDIC
showed that one-third of underbanked
households used mobile banking in
the previous 12 months, and one in
eight used it as their primary banking
method. The findings suggest that the
unbanked and underbanked consumers
are attracted to the convenience of
PROTECTING YOUR ASS E T S
With advances in technology, financial
institutions are now increasingly
providing customers the ability to use
mobile phones for banking transactions
and to pay for just about anything from
a retail purchase to a restaurant bill
you’re splitting with friends. “Mobile
phones provide opportunities for
consumers to conduct their banking
transactions and make payments
from anywhere at any time,” said
FDIC Senior Technology Specialist
Deborah Shaw. “This is a convenient
and beneficial way for consumers to
incorporate banking and shopping into
their busy lives.”
Additionally, FDIC research reported in
2016 showed great potential for mobile
financial services to help “underserved”
consumers obtain more control over
their funds and better manage their bank
accounts. The FDIC defines underserved
consumers as either “unbanked” (they do
not have an account at a federally insured
financial institution) or “underbanked”
(they have an account at a banking
institution but they also obtain financial
products and services outside of the
banking system, such as check-cashing
services). The study, “Opportunities
for Mobile Financial Services to
Engage Underserved Consumers,” is
on the FDIC website at www.fdic.gov/
consumers/community/mobile/mfs_
qualitative_research_report.pdf.
Consumer concerns about safety and
security, however, continue to be
cited in Federal Reserve Board (Fed)
annual reports on mobile financial
services (most recently from 2016) as
reasons some people do not sign up.
Here is the latest overview from FDIC
Consumer News to help consumers
better understand the current state of
mobile financial services, how they
might benefit, and how they can protect
themselves against security risks.
Mobile Banking
While many people access their bank
accounts by going to their bank, using
the telephone or an ATM, or accessing
services online with their personal
computer, consumers are increasingly
A Closer Look at Mobile Banking: More Uses, More Users
What’s new, how you can benefit, and how to protect yourself from security risks
using their mobile banking options.
That might involve text messaging
the bank, accessing a bank’s website,
or using mobile applications (apps)
to check account balances, retrieve
account information or initiate financial
transactions.
The Fed survey found that 43 percent
of all mobile phone users with bank
accounts had used mobile banking in
the previous 12 months, up from 22
percent in the agency’s 2011 survey.
Among mobile banking users with
smartphones (cell phones with internet
connectivity), 53 percent with bank
accounts used mobile banking in the
previous 12 months.
“A mobile banking application makes
it easy to transfer funds within your
bank, perhaps to send money to a
child’s account there or to confirm
if you have enough funds to make a
purchase or pay a bill,” added Ben
Navarro, a policy analyst at the FDIC.
“The mobile banking app can also
often be used for payments across
banks.”
Mobile banking also can assist
consumers in making informed
decisions. According to the Fed survey,
62 percent of mobile banking users
checked their account balance on their
phone before making a large purchase
in the store, and 50 percent decided not
to purchase an item as a result of their
account balance or credit limit.
As previously reported, consumers also
can conveniently deposit checks from
practically anywhere by transmitting
an electronic image of each check
and relevant information (see the
Summer 2016 FDIC Consumer News
at www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/
news/cnsum16/photos.html). Many
consumers also are using high-tech
wristwatches (called “smartwatches”)
to read bank alerts or to make purchases
applied to their credit, debit or prepaid
cards (the latter have money deposited
on them but they are not linked to a
checking or savings account). Ask your
bank what services might be available.
And at the FDIC, we’ve been exploring
the potential for mobile banking and
mobile payments to bring more low-
and moderate-income Americans into
the financial mainstream. Recent FDIC
surveys have shown that more than one
in four households are either unbanked
or underbanked.
Additional research by the FDIC
showed that one-third of underbanked
households used mobile banking in
the previous 12 months, and one in
eight used it as their primary banking
method. The findings suggest that the
unbanked and underbanked consumers
are attracted to the convenience of
PROTECTING YOUR ASS E T S