Top Things to Know About Financial Apps

Many of us are using financial apps and digital tools like Acorns®, Venmo®, TurboTax® and Mint® to manage our finances, pay for things and generally make our lives easier. These tools use your personal information, such as username and password, to provide a personalized service.

They may also use a third party—called a data aggregator—that typically collects and stores either your personal or transaction information, or both. Here’s what you need to know about these apps and how they work.

Learn How Financial Apps Use Your Data

The convenience of having a digital tool that displays the financial information from all their accounts in one place has obvious benefits. Users feel that having real-time access to the status of their finances allows them to make smarter spending, saving and investment decisions. However, it’s necessary to investigate how these apps handle your data. As a responsible user, you’ll want to keep these tips in mind so you can find out for yourself how each app treats your data:

• Revisit all the tools you’re using to see if you still find them helpful, and completely delete profiles and services you’re not using.
• Read the terms and conditions of any user agreement you accept—specifically around access rights to your account.
• Learn about the tool’s privacy and security policies. Check to see if they’ve had data breaches and, if so, how they’ve handled them.

Additional Steps to Consider

While knowledge of how financial apps handle data is important, there are also a few things you can do to boost your security. You could start by:

• Signing up for transaction alerts with your bank for any accounts you have connected to the service. That way, you’ll be notified right away of any suspicious activity.
• Being cautious of how you access the digital tool. Always use a secure connection and don’t handle any financial transactions on public Wi-Fi.
• Ensuring that none of your financial data apps have the same password. Remember, if a hacker is able to break into one of your accounts, they’ll be able to break into all of them.

Navy Federal Credit Union Safeguards Financial Data

At Navy Federal, account security is our top priority. We stay up to date on the latest security and technology trends and share that information with our members. Learn more by visiting our Security Center.