Mobile banking alerts help prevent scams; know how to use

To help prevent and quickly identify scams and fraud committed with their customers’ cards and accounts, banks have developed resources to notify you as soon as a transaction is completed. The mechanisms are also triggered when the institution considers a certain movement suspicious.

Itaú Unibanco, for example, launches this week another feature that promises to increase communication between the institution and its customers.

Now, in addition to notifications via SMS and the bank’s application, Itaú customers will receive immediate alerts via WhatsApp when the bank’s monitoring points to any suspicious financial transactions.

With this, consumers will also have the possibility to assess the veracity of the transaction and, if necessary, block the card in the conversation through the application.

Bank customers who wish to receive this type of alert must access the product application (Itaucard, Credicard, Hipercard and Magalu), select the “Help” option and then “Enable WhatsApp”.

“It is also possible to join the functionality via call centers or by sending a WhatsApp message from each brand. note.

Other banks such as Bradesco, Santander, Nubank, Banco do Brasil, C6 Bank and Caixa Econômica also send alerts to their customers when a purchase is made or a transaction is carried out.

How it works at other banks

Consumers who have a Bradesco credit card receive purchase alerts by SMS in all transactions carried out.

According to the financial institution, Bradesco also has an anti-fraud monitoring tool that automatically enables communication via SMS, WhatsApp, electronic or active service when a suspicious transaction is identified.

At Banco Santander, immediate notices of credit card transactions are made by notifications triggered by its application. To activate them, just access the configuration area of ​​your cell phone and release notifications from the bank app.

Santander also informs the customer via SMS when a transaction attempt is denied and explains the reason. The person can then respond if the suspicious transaction was made by them.

“If the operation was carried out by the client, we release the transaction and he can redo it. If the client does not recognize it, he is instructed to contest the expense”, explains the bank.

At Nubank, all credit card transactions are immediately communicated via mobile notification and by email.

Through the app, the customer can configure which notifications they want or not to receive.

In addition, Nubank has a system that automatically blocks the credit card when a transaction deviates from the customer’s purchase patterns and sends an alert through the application and by email so that the consumer is aware of what has happened and can release the purchase, if it was done by himself.

Like other institutions, Banco do Brasil also triggers notifications via SMS and through the application for each transaction carried out. The bank also has the possibility of making contact via WhatsApp for some transactions.

For customers who wish to receive notifications through the application in case of suspicious transactions, simply enable the option in the program, entering the “General” configuration area and selecting “Receive messages in the BB App”.

Alerts sent by SMS, email, WhatsApp and direct notification from the bank app are also common practices for C6 Bank.

According to the bank, the customer does not need to perform or request the activation of these resources for them to be used. Another option that is also used by C6 Bank is the voice call notification.

Caixa Econômica Federal customers, on the other hand, need to subscribe to the service through Internet Banking or at a service terminal to receive financial alerts via SMS.

Caixa sends messages to registered cell phones in cases of transfers, payments, withdrawals and appointments starting at R$100, but this base amount can be changed by the customer when signing up for the service.

Consumers also receive notifications in cases of debit card purchases (Maestro and VisaEletron) from R$50. This amount can also be adjusted by the customer.

To avoid fraud, Caixa warns its customers that it only sends messages from the numbers 29193, 29194, 29196, 29015, 29111 or 29197.