Below Finance Monthly hears commentary from interactive investor cryptocurrency analyst Gary McFarlane on bitcoin passing $11,000 over the weekend.

The recommendations, as expected, from the global G7-instituted Financial Action Task Force, which will see crypto exchanges and others required to provide full know-your-customer (KYC) details on clients and all parties to crypto transactions, has done little to dampen bitcoin buying.

Other top altcoins – all other coins barring bitcoin – are struggling today.

Two notable exceptions are decentralised application platforms Ethereum (its Ether token is the second-most valuable crypto), and one of its many rivals, Tron, whose founder and chief executive Justin Sun recently won the auction for lunch with legendary investor and crypto sceptic Warren Buffett at a cost of $4.57 million.

Other factors in play behind the bitcoin rally

Geopolitical tensions, notably in the Middle East; the realisation that historically unprecedented loose monetary policy by central banks is not being reversed any time soon, the China-US trade war encouraging bitcoin’s use as a conduit to effect capital flight by some Chinese investors; record high trading in distressed economies such as Turkey and to a greater extent Venezuela and some other countries in Latin American; and talk of an outright ban on crypto by the authorities in India. These are all helping to propel the bitcoin price higher, providing, as they do, a range of examples of its use case as a store of value, no matter how peculiar that may sound for such a crash-prone asset.

Is the fourth parabolic bitcoin price upturn upon us?

Talk is now turning to the possibility of “the fourth parabolic”, which postulates a rise in the bitcoin price beyond the previous all-time high at $20,000 in December 2017.

With end of year targets of $40,000 from Wall Street analyst Thomas Lee of Fundstrat Global Advisors and commodity trader Peter Brandt saying $100,000 for next year is a possibility, which would align to the run up to block rewards halving from 12.5 to 6.25 in May 2020 for bitcoin miners, it is starting to feel like 2017 all over again.

That might sound fanciful in the extreme but on past form it is a possibility – and so is a crash from wherever any potential new all-time high might form.

When bitcoin first surpassed $10,000 on 29 November 2017 it only took 17 days to reach its all-time high near $20,000, but past performance is of course not a reliable guide to future performance, especially where crypto is concerned.

New FOMO?

Judging by Google Trends, searches for ‘bitcoin’ haven’t surged yet in the way they did last time round: December 2017 scores is 100 and we are currently registering 16.

It suggests current buyers are those who have previously been in the market and were waiting on the sidelines for a new entry point. That could mean there is plenty of near-term oxygen to drive this market higher, but as always with crypto, it will be a high-risk rollercoaster ride. The fear-of-missing-out (FOMO) impulse for now is more in evidence among institutional buyers.

In this light, following increased pressure from digital banks, legacy banks have yet to follow Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier III and Danny O’Sullivan’s example. Here David Murphy, EMEA & APAC Banking & Insurance Lead at Publicis Sapient, explains that while newly created fintech companies have stepped into the ring and landed a few punches on traditional banks by being quick and nimble, they are by no means facing a knock-out.

Legacy banks shouldn’t underestimate the challenge of newly created digital banks. By relying on their tech, rather than reputation, digital banks have shaken up the financial sector in the last five years. Exploiting poor customer service and lack of innovation in many parts of the industry, tech-driven fintech startups such as Monzo and Starling Bank have won over customers with simple, low-fee, mobile-first products and services.

The market share for current accounts of the big four legacy banks (Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland/NatWest, HSBC and Lloyds) has lost ground, from 92% of all bank customers a decade ago to around 70% today.

Challenger banks have proven themselves to be more flexible, quicker to adapt to user needs and more friendly and personal than traditional banks. In fact, according to a recent survey from Which?, challenger bank Monzo was ranked as the best bank in the UK with a customer rating of 86% (banks were rated out of a series of categories by real customers out of 10). Their ability to match up to some of the biggest and most established names in the business is a concern for many in the traditional banking sector.

With digital banks winning over consumers and raising a significant amount of funding in order to grow their services - Monzo raised £20m in two days last year and Tandem is expected to raise over £80m in its funding round this month this concern is being amplified – the fightback from legacy banks, which began long ago, is gearing up.

However, this is no easy fight. Compared to younger, more agile fintech companies building new services and platforms from scratch, banks have to work around their legacy systems to make any technological leap. They also have to deal with the issues of siloed workplaces and cultural backlashes in order to improve their services and products.

For example, the boards of major banks today are dominated by people with experience in finance, accounting, law and regulation. Given the enormous changes in regulation since the financial crisis, it is not surprising banks have sought out board members with skills relevant to the sector’s strategic agenda for the post-crisis years: regulation, risk management and compliance.

But the post-crisis environment is shaped by another set of strategic issues that grow steadily more pressing: digitalisation, mobile, automation and the emergence of big data analytics.

To overcome structural issues, legacy banks need to fight smarter against digital banks. While older boxers have to learn how to be strategic and take a punch when competing against younger more nimble fighters, banks need to also adapt their tactics against younger, digitally-enabled competitors.

The contrast between banks and leading technology businesses is clear: tech companies’ boards have large contingents of people from technology, customer insight and digital media backgrounds. As a result, they demonstrate a sharper focus at the top level on the strategic issues of the coming decade, the digital transformation of all businesses, including financial service. Legacy banks need to create a multi-pronged approach to the rise of fintechs from innovating internally to capitalising on their experience in the market.

As we have seen over the past few months with Revolut - the bank has been linked to multiple scandals and failed to block thousands of potentially suspicious transactions on its platform for three months last year - challenger banks come with risks. Legacy banks can therefore, capitalise on their stability by reflecting this in their advertising and marketing campaigns.

Most importantly though, banks need to innovate and adapt to new technology. Many legacy banks are recreating the dynamism of fintech startups within their organisations through innovation labs, as well as partnerships with external technology providers. Initiatives such as innovation labs allocate space to incubate ideas internally with considerable time and investment. They also overcome the cultural issues that big organisations create by building small teams in the company to develop new competing platforms.

Fundamentally, banks need to put customers at the center of the picture. In order to deliver a knockout blow to digital competitors, banks need to ensure that they have the time, investment and willingness to develop and improve their digital banking platforms, enacting digital transformation holistically throughout the organisation and embedding a culture of innovation in their business, underpinned by experience and knowledge built over years.

We are seeing an unprecedented shift in consumer spending habits. But this rapid growth is introducing new challenges. Fraud is rising, yet merchants are under pressure to deliver the seamless payment experiences that consumers increasingly demand.

Network tokenization is one of many technologies that online merchants are turning to in a bid to strike the right balance between high security and a frictionless buying experience.

But according to Andre Stoorvogel, Director of Product Marketing at Rambus Payments, we should not think of network tokenization as an optional add-on. Rather, it is a foundational technology enabling secure, simple digital commerce.

What is network tokenization?

With network tokenization, the payment networks replace a primary account number (PAN) with a unique payment token that is restricted in its usage, for example, to a specific device, merchant, transaction type or channel.

The question is, how is network tokenization different to existing third-party proprietary tokens?

The main (and crucial) difference is that network tokenization ensures that card details are protected throughout the entire transaction lifecycle. Non-network tokens don’t offer this end-to-end security, introducing weaknesses at various points for fraudsters to exploit.

Network tokenization also introduces improved credential lifecycle management to keep card details current, whereas proprietary tokens do not always have issuer permission to access and manage the underlying account data.

Finally, network tokenization opens opportunities for new, enhanced buying experiences across existing and emerging channels.

What are the benefits of network tokenization for online commerce?

To fully appreciate the unique value that network tokens bring to the payments ecosystem, we need to understand how they can address the key pain points for e-commerce merchants.

• Reducing the cost of fraud

We can’t get away from it. Online commerce has a fraud problem.

E-commerce fraud is growing twice as fast as e-commerce sales, with retailers set to lose $130 billion between 2018 and 2023.

We should not be surprised that one in two US merchants see fraud prevention as ‘an increasingly challenging task’. They are already spending $3.48 to combat every dollar of fraud (and this is set to rise with the global cost of fraud prevention increasing by 4% year-on-year).

And yet, the fraud rates keep on climbing. In a hyper-competitive industry where every cent counts, blindly throwing money at a problem is not a sustainable strategy.

The end-to-end security proposition of network tokenization significantly reduces the risk, and mitigates the impact, of malware, phishing attacks and data breaches. Put simply, tokenized card data is useless if stolen and for this reason, network tokenization should be the foundation on which a layered fraud management approach is built.

• Combatting false declines

Given the scale of the fraud challenge, merchants and issuers are understandably adopting a cautious approach. Transaction approval rates for digital transactions stand at around 85%, compared to 97% for in-store transactions.

This leads to a high prevalence of ‘false declines’, where a valid transaction from an authorized cardholder is rejected by the merchant. Often the cause is something simple, such as an outdated billing address, but the results can be incredibly damaging.

Globally, false declines cost merchants $331 billion. 66% of consumers stop shopping with a retailer after a false decline. Unnecessary declines outstrip actual fraud 13 times over. Most tellingly, US e-commerce merchants are losing a total of $8.6 billion to declines, compared to the $6.5 billion of fraud they are actually preventing.

Network tokens can increase approval rates to reduce instances of false declines. This is because card details are automatically updated and refreshed, making it less likely for an erroneous data point to raise a red flag. Also, tokenized transactions are inherently more secure so less likely to be viewed as risky.

• Enhancing the checkout experience

Despite the huge challenges posed by rising fraud, it is telling that 91% of merchants identify ‘minimizing the amount of friction introduced into the user experience’ as the main priority when evaluating their approach to securing payments.

Introducing additional friction into the checkout process, then, is a no-go. But as network tokenization reduces the value of the underlying sensitive data, it adds an invisible layer of security.

We must also remember that merchants want to focus on payment innovation, not fraud prevention. Network tokenization is more than just a security play, and can be used to enhance the buying experience.

For example, it enables consumers to see a fully branded card when checking out, rather than a mish-mash of starred credentials and the final four digits. This boosts recognition, familiarity and engagement.

It also enables payment details to be instantly refreshed when a card is lost, stolen or expires. Better still, it can enable consumers to keep track of where and when their payment credentials are being used. For example, card details could easily be push provisioned to merchant apps.

What is the industry roadmap for network tokenization?

Given the clear benefits, we are already seeing strong momentum for network tokenization for card-on-file transactions. And with EMV Secure Remote Commerce poised to debut in 2019, we can expect to see network tokenization extend to ‘guest checkout’ experiences.

There are options available for merchants and payment service providers (PSPs) looking to implement network tokenization solutions. For those with significant strategic resource, time and technical capacity, direct integration with the payment systems is an option.

Alternatively, for those looking to move quickly, qualified technology partners offer a fast-track to the immediate benefits of network tokenization (without the potential integration headaches).

During this time of financial uncertainty, many opt for emergency small term loans to cover the cost, however these are for financial emergency only and alternative funding will be needed. Here we are going to give you our top tips for saving money and avoid using your credit card.

Make A Shopping List

One of the main ways to avoid making payments on your contactless credit card is to have a shopping list and stick to it. In doing this, you can ensure that you have bought all the food that you need for the week at one time without spending large sums of money as a result. By having everything in the house that you could need, this reduces the need for you to travel to the shops and get tempted by a chocolate bar or other sweet treats that can be bought on impulse with your contactless card.

Avoid Fast Food

Although it may seem tempting to opt for fast food when you have had a long day in the office, it is important to avoid this temptation. One of the ways that you can do this is through making food the night before and freezing it. This not only helps you to maintain a healthy lifestyle, but it saves you money as a result. This is ideal particularly for students as this will allow them to save excess money and maintain a healthy diet.

Don’t Use Mobile Banking

Mobile banking is something that you should definitely avoid if you are looking to save money. This is because applications such as Google Pay, and Apple Pay make it easy for you to pay for items with a fingerprint or simple passkey. This will not aid you in saving money as this makes it to easy to overspend and end up buying items that you do not need. One way that you can get around this is through travelling to the bank to look at your finances or even restricting your online banking to one desktop.

Pay By Cash Not Card

When going out for a night on the town or on a shopping trip, it is very easy to opt for a contactless payment to purchase items quickly, but what about just taking cash? By taking cash with you and leaving your card at home, you restrict yourself to the amount of money that you can spend. This is particularly important if you are limited on funds as this allows you to budget accordingly and ensure that you do not overspend at any point. If an item is out of your budget at this time, you must then wait till next month to afford it.

Buy Your Own Lunch

Although this may seem like an extremely small transaction per day, purchasing lunch can actually amount to a large portion of your spending per month. In order to combat this and save yourself more money, begin packing your own lunch. This could save you an average of £5 per day which can amount to a large amount at the end of every month. This can then be saved and placed within a bank account for a financial emergency or a treat later in the year.

Whether you are looking to completely avoid using your card on a daily basis or you are looking to limit the amount that you are spending in general, you can be sure to find the solution that works for you by following one of these top tips.

To put this into perspective, the U.S. banking system alone held an estimated $17.4 trillion in assets at the end of 2017, whilst it also generated a staggering net income of $164.8 billion.

Banks are set to become more profitable in the future too, with advanced technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) expected to introduce more than $1 trillion in savings by the year 2030. This highlights the impact that technology is continuing to have on banking, with this relationship growing increasingly intertwined with every passing year.

In this article, we’ll explore this further whilst asking how the most recent innovations are impacting on banking in the digital age.

1. It has Ushered in the Age of Digital and Mobile Banking

Whereas banking used to require standing in queues and liaising with tellers, most transactions are now completed through digital means. In fact, an estimated four out of every 10 UK customers now bank using a mobile app, and this number is set to increase incrementally in the years to come.

So, whether you want to make an instant payment, transfer funds or open a brand new account with a service provider such as Think Money, the quickest and most efficient way of doing this is through digital means.

Technology is also making digital banking increasingly secure, with methods such as 2-step authentication having transformed the space in recent times.

We’re also seeing a significant rise in the use of biometric security methods, including advanced techniques such as fingertip authentication and facial recognition. These options provide the ideal compromise between high security and a seamless customer experience, and this something that remains at the very heart of banking in the digital age.

2. It’s Using AI to Improve the Customer Experience

We touched earlier on AI, and how this will enable banks to make considerable savings and become more profitable in the future.

AI is also having a considerable impact from a consumer perspective, however, especially in terms of the banking experience that they enjoy.

Take the use of chatbots, for example, which can enhance the onboarding process when positioned as helpdesk agents. More specifically, they can answer the most basic and commonly asked questions and anticipate popular requests, enabling customers to resolve their queries as quickly as possible.

AI can also afford bankers a more detailed look at their customers’ behaviours and financial history, making it easier for them to provide real-time insights and offers that offer considerable value.

3. It’s Improved Data Protection in the Banking Sector

In the first half of 2015, it’s estimated that around 400 data breaches took place in the U.S. alone.

This number has fallen in recent times, as banks have identified the core issues that compromise customer details and introduced measures to provide more robust data protection.

Aforementioned biometric and 2-step authentication techniques have helped to secure users’ passwords, for example, whilst phishing scams and malware are also being combatted by 128-bit encryption and higher.

As a customer, you can also take advantage of secure wireless connections to safely access your bank accounts in the modern age, negating the risk posed by public networks and unsecured Wi-Fi hotspots.

This initiative is called Making Tax Digital (MTD) and is part of the UK’s plan for a more digital future, but not all businesses are ready. If you’re one of them, here Damon Anderson, Director of Partner at Xero explains what you can do to avoid huge fines.

1. Check your eligibility

If your business makes more than £85k each year in taxable turnover, Making Tax Digital for VAT will apply to you from April 1. After this date you won’t be able to complete a paper-based VAT return, or complete your VAT return online at the HMRC VAT portal.

If you suspect your business will soon fall within the VAT threshold, keep records digitally using HMRC-compatible software to stay within the rules.

2. Act now

If you’re eligible, first you need to find an HMRC-approved software vendor. Xero has bridging software to make it even easier to make the switch and it’s MTD tools are now live, are free for Xero users and allow you to:

• Know when VAT returns are due
• Keep a history of the VAT returns that have been filed
• Calculate how much VAT is due
• Identify the method of payment
• Post VAT returns in real time

MTD for VAT will change to the way businesses file their tax, so there’s no escape. If you’re not sure where to turn, speak to an accountant who can advise you. To help small businesses and their advisers to comply, we’ve also created Dexter the digital tax adviser who is putting a friendly face to the legislation.

Keep in mind that some VAT-registered businesses have a deferred start date of October 2019. You can find more information on eligibility here.

3. Know your penalties

HMRC can charge a maximum penalty of £500 for failure to keep the required VAT records. But don’t panic: HMRC understands Making Tax Digital is a big step, and while penalties will apply to record keeping requirements, it is expected to be sympathetic where the trader has made reasonable efforts to comply.

There’s no doubt that businesses are dealing with a lot at the moment and HMRC has said they will not pursue record-keeping penalties when businesses are doing their best to comply with the law. However, eligible businesses should still make the effort to comply by 1st April.

4. Embrace it

Millions of businesses already do so much of their business online, from banking, paying bills to interacting with their customers or suppliers, and many already using accounting software and are seeing the huge benefits. By moving to digital tax, many of the existing paper-based processes will be put to bed, allowing businesses and their agents to devote more time and attention to growing and nurturing their business.

Making Tax Digital will make tax filing simpler and more accurate. The sooner you get used to digital tax filing the more time you’ll have to grow your business.

Automated fund management is becoming a daily reality for many retail investors as advanced financial technology becomes miniaturised - companies like Nutmeg have built their business model on mobile-based automatic investment. Here, Adam Vincent, CEO at ThreatConnect, answers the question: brave new world or house of cards?

Even for larger, more traditional investment houses, essential market and risk analysis is shifting towards digital - as machine learning becomes more advanced, software is increasingly able to perform critical judgements that were previously the preserve of humans.

With that shift comes a heavy reliance on technology in frontline business as well as back-end processes. As such, the security of these applications is paramount. Banks and other financial institutions need to ensure they have full visibility of their systems and are able to detect potential threats to their customer-facing systems. A compromised investment app could lead to serious losses and, if the firm in question is influential enough, have a significant impact on wider markets.

Security’s weight problem

To add to that problem, the cyber security that guards those banks is often huge, unwieldy and poorly linked up. For decades, the young cybersecurity market has been about specialism: laser-focus companies designing highly-adapted solutions to solve a particular problem – malware, say, or phishing – as well as possible. That’s all well and good in the sense that each platform does the best job for its users, but over time it’s led to a highly expensive and unwieldy situation for buyers and security analysts who have to assemble a defence from multiple vendors.

Think of it this way: imagine you need a new car. But instead of going to the local dealership and buying a shiny Ford, you have to ring up the door manufacturer and ask them to bring you four doors. Then you call the seat company, and they deliver five seats. The engine makers, the boot shapers, the hubcap painters. All of them craft a quality product, but you’re left with an enormous bill and you still have to put the thing together and make sure it actually works.

That’s essentially the problem facing large banks in the current culture. They purchase a firewall, an email filter, a threat intelligence database, an antivirus software, and whatever else they need, and each of them does a great job – but overall, they’re a burden to run. They don’t talk to each other, and each has its own dashboard. Security analysts have to spend hours sifting through alerts to find the truly crucial issues, and valuable time is lost tending to individual systems.

That’s the CISO’s problem. But for the CEO, there’s a bigger issue – running multiple security systems is expensive. Really expensive. The more systems you have, the more highly-skilled staff you need, and they’re few and far between. Where cybersecurity used to be a classic back-office concern, like air conditioning or heating, it’s now a central part of strategy and a key pillar of both reputation and customer retention - financial legislation leaves no room for failure. Above all, though, at present, it’s a cost centre.

Send an algorithm to do a human’s job

So how do financial institutions maintain the benefits of digitisation whilst reducing the weight of security? In a word: orchestration. As cybersecurity has grown and developed, so has computer automation. Companies can now link their key systems together under a single automated management tool (often referred to as a security orchestration, automation and response or SOAR platform) to reduce the weight on their staff. Orchestrating your security landscape essentially means integrating systems so that their alerts and data flows are monitored by the SOAR, which then automatically resolves low-level alerts and flags up high-priority issues that need human review.

The upshot of that is that security resources can then be spent more profitably on strategic initiatives like system reviews and regulatory compliance. The CISO is happy because their security systems are preventing attacks and the team is more available for new projects, and the CEO is happy because costs can be streamlined by removing unnecessary admin tasks and slimming down software spend.

More importantly, an effectively orchestrated security system can be easily amended to accommodate new elements of the organisation’s digital landscape – meaning that financial organisations are freed up to innovate in the age of PSD2 and open banking without fear that every new application will come with a six-figure security cost.

Digital banking is the future – there’s no question about that. But financial organisations will have to change the way they approach security system management if they’re to keep up with and support innovation. Orchestration is one way to lighten the load – without compromising on quality.

The SME market is becoming a key target sector for most banks, but these often more agile organisations demand a better digital approach, and according to Kyle Ferguson, CEO of Fraedom, a personal touch is what’s needed.

Thanks to technological advances within retail banking, the way we bank in our personal lives has changed dramatically. No longer do we wait for bank statements to arrive at the end of each month to get an idea of our spending; instead, we are able to do this whenever we want, and often in real-time, via an app on our phone. This evolution of banking in our personal lives has fuelled a change in expectation among SMEs who are demanding the same experiences and offerings within the world of business banking. As a result of this change in expectations, SMEs are demanding a better digital approach as reflected by 57% of SMEs that now want to move to an online/mobile banking business environment.

However, banks are currently struggling to meet the demands of SMEs and deliver the more personalised service and consumer-focused offering the majority desire. Yet, with a combined annual turnover of £2.0 trillion and accounting for 52% of all private sector turnover in the UK in 2018, SMEs are a highly lucrative market that banks can’t afford to ignore. So, where should banks start and how can they begin to attract SMEs?

Developing a digital offering

According to a survey conducted by Fraedom, 95% of commercial clients who bank digitally in their personal lives, expect to do so at work as well. Ultimately, SMEs want the same digital capabilities, such as apps and online platforms, they get as personal customers. Yet, just 43% of SMEs claim to have near real-time control over business spend. Similarly, almost a third of respondents feel they have very little visibility on a day-to-day basis and nearly a quarter confessing to having to regularly spend significant time and money investigating who spent what. Furthermore, over half of UK respondents said that on average they were personally spending more than two hours a week on expense or financial management tasks. The need to regularly go back and interrogate audit trails can be a further drag on a business’ efficiency and productivity.

Just 43% of SMEs claim to have near real-time control over business spend.

In our personal lives, we now have seamless mobile transactions, highly responsive customer service and fast transaction times. Yet, although personal bank statements typically update in real time and can be viewed on a mobile device, reconciliation of work-based expenditures can take days, if not weeks to process. It is therefore unsurprising that SMEs are left frustrated by the lack of innovation offered by banks and are demanding banks provide the same tools, level of service and personalised experience we have become so used to in our personal lives.

Gaining an understanding of SMEs

Banks’ engagement levels with SME customers have also been revealed by Fraedom to leave a lot to be desired with just 12% of UK SMEs saying they thought that banks their organisation had dealt with over the past year fully understood their needs as a business. It is therefore vital that banks work to understand the needs of SMEs and also learn to speak the same language.

This understanding of SMEs also extends to ways in which they want to interact with banks. For instance, the 2018 FIS Performance Against Customer Expectations (PACE) found that almost half of UK SMEs prefer to contact their bank through digital methods via a tablet or mobile, for example. Banks need to keep this in mind and offer preferred methods of communication if they are to really tap into this lucrative market.

The SME sector is a truly lucrative market for banks, and ignoring their pleas for a more digital, personalised approach would be a mistake.

Moving forward together

The SME sector is a truly lucrative market for banks, and ignoring their pleas for a more digital, personalised approach would be a mistake. It is vital that banks begin to innovate to answer this demand with partnering with fintechs often being the most effective way of doing this. Through fintech partnerships, banks will be able to not only implement the right technology but also to get a better understanding of their SME client-base. As a result, banks will be better able to understand the consumerisation of business processes and technologies; the eagerness of SMEs to adopt these to achieve enhanced agility; and the frustration they feel if they sense that banks are effectively not speaking their language.

This tailored service will allow banks to build lasting, more trust-based relationships with SME customers, while SMEs will gain greater business agility, streamlined efficiencies and increased visibility of expenditure.

While there are some risks associated with e-filing, there are benefits as well when completed correctly. E-filing can save you time, money, and reduce the number of errors that used to accompany traditional paper filing methods. You may even be able to get your refund sooner. The risks associated with e-filing are easily avoidable and should be carefully considered this tax season. Here are 5 tips for e-filing your taxes safely.

1. It’s important to know that tax scams and fraud can affect anyone! Every year people are shocked to find that their taxes have already been filed by someone else under their name in order to receive their tax return. Be aware of phishing emails that claim to be sent from an IRS representative or a tax service informing you that your account has been locked and needs your login information. These emails usually carry a malicious download or dangerous link that infects your computer with malware or spyware. The most important thing to know is that the IRS will never contact you via email. They will also never show up unannounced at your doorstep. If a real claim is being filed against you, you will receive a warning letter in the mail first. If you happen to receive an email from a tax service that appears to be fraudulent, it is wise to call and confirm their inquiry.
2. Having trusted antivirus software installed on all your devices will give you the best protection while filing your taxes. It will ensure that no dangerous spyware is able to record your information during the process. Sometimes, scammers will obtain various pieces of information that they need from different devices of yours. Because of this, it is smart to protect all of them with the appropriate software.
3. Make sure you are using a secured wireless network when accessing important information of any kind. Opening any tax-related information on an unsecured network, like those found in public places, may be putting your information at risk of being compromised. Make sure you are only divulging personal information to encrypted sites. These sites will display “https” in the URL, not just “http”. If a financial transaction is being made on the site, there will also be a padlock icon at the beginning of the URL that will verify it is protected. Both of these are symbols that guarantee the site will be securing your information from any third party looking to intercept it. You should also verify the spelling of the website. For example, a popular tax service is TurboTax.com, whereas a hacker may set up a site seemingly similar but the URL will be TurboTaxx.com. You may be surprised that this simple switch could be enough to trick an unsuspecting tax filer.
4. A common mistake made by many is ignoring software updates as they pop up. It’s important to stay up to date with the latest version of your operating system and applications. This keeps you best protected from potential threats as many updates are made after a security breach has been detected. Also, periodically updating your login credentials is a great way to keep scammers away. This is just as important as making sure that your passwords are different from account to account at the initial stages of creating the account. You want to make sure that they are strong, including letters, numbers and special characters.
5. After filing your taxes on a specific device, back up all tax-related documents to an external hard drive and delete the information from this device. This will act as another added layer of protection in case that device should become compromised in the future. This is always a good practice for all of your internet-connected devices that carry important information.

These are some of the ways you can help steer clear of identity theft through tax fraud prevention. Unfortunately, identity theft isn’t always avoidable, but identity theft protection can help you recover from damages. Tax fraud can drastically affect the financial wellbeing that you have worked so hard to preserve. For those interested in building upon their financial health, it’s important to note that this can go beyond just your credit score and investments. It may be time to consider investing in your cybersecurity this tax season.

Smartphones may be our first introduction to 5G, but it's most significant impact may be felt in how it connects us to everything else. Tom Chitty reports from Mobile World Congress.

Industry experts CACI forecast that 2019 could very well see mobiles usurp PCs as the main appliance for internet banking. It’s even predicted that by 2023, 72% of Brits will use apps as their main financial management source.

But mobile banking has already transformed how we spend money. Let’s explore how.

1. Average Spending

Thanks to banking apps, it’s easier than ever to access money. Access to phone signal granted, you can transfer money, anywhere, at any time. However, with this comes the risk of overspending.

And many people can’t resist the temptation to buy more than they need. In fact, a recent report by Bain & Co. revealed that on average, mobile payment users spend twice as much as those who don’t.

Therefore, what we’re spending money on – as well as how we’re spending it - has already been hugely affected by mobile banking.

2. Budgeting Apps

Very often, with the risk of overspending comes an increased demand for easy money-saving tactics. Unsurprisingly, banks have been quick to jump on this need by bringing out budgeting apps.

Although increased spending remains common among mobile bankers, these apps could help to provide a remedy. Because managing finances is a priority for most people, they have been quick to take off.

So, mobile banking hasn’t just influenced how we spend — it’s changing how we save, too.

3. All-Inclusive Banking

Banking apps make it more straightforward to exchange money and make purchases, therefore they are particularly valuable for people who struggle with traditional methods of money management.

For wheelchair users, visiting a local bank or an ATM can often be inconvenient. But thanks to these apps, financial affairs can be managed from home. The need to venture into town to take out cash or pay for goods is now a thing of the past — and this is transforming lives.

Likewise, this has revolutionised how people with specific learning differences monitor their money. Features like colour-coding are ideal for users with Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and ADHD, for example.

For people who live far from the town or city, driving to an area with a hole in the wall or bank is no longer necessary as banking can be done from home. Using this kind of app could even reduce your carbon emissions.

Mobile banking isn’t just benefitting its users — it’s helping the environment.

How we spend, save and manage our money has been completely transformed by mobile banking. No wonder its set to rise in popularity over the next four years. This is an exciting time for the financial world. How will it affect your finances?

Digital transactions do not end at simple purchases. Cryptocurrency, online betting, and sending cash via the internet have all become popular recently. With the amount of money changing hands online, it is no surprise that hackers see this as an opportunity for identity theft.

Privacy was once the only concern for web browsers, but financial data security has taken a place on the list of essential things to consider when roaming the internet. Digital shopping and online transactions are not going away, so it behooves everyone to learn ways to protect private information.

Seemingly becoming more challenging by the day, internet security is possible. Hackers regularly find new ways to attack their victims but practicing internet safety and putting safeguards in place will help keep your information out of the hands of a cyber-criminal.

1.       Protect Your Privacy Using a VPN

The first thing any mobile device user should do is download a VPN app. While a VPN can be used on other devices like laptops or tablets, it is important to protect mobile devices, too.

People frequently connect to Wi-Fi in public places to conserve data costs, leaving themselves vulnerable. Hackers roam unsecured networks hoping to find an easy target. A VPN can create a more secure environment by encrypting data to and from your device.

2.       Practice Internet Safety

Social media has created an environment ripe for malicious cyber-attacks. Facebook and Twitter alone often provide hackers with all the information they need to infiltrate the privacy of an individual.

Being safe online is more than avoiding “sketchy” web areas. Avoid putting too much personal information on social media sites and keep your profile restricted to those you know. Decline unknown friend requests and think twice about liking every post you come across.

Hackers prefer easy targets, and many users make themselves very vulnerable by providing so much information online. These details can give hackers tips to decoding your passwords or usernames, which opens you up to a world of digital trouble.

3.       Pay Attention When Purchasing

Online transactions are here to stay, and it would be ridiculous to recommend someone avoid digital purchases. However, when buying online, you should pay attention to where you are shopping.

Small online businesses are popping up everywhere, and while they may offer unique and trendy items, it is important to validate their security. Never enter financial information on a site missing the “HTTPS” at the beginning of its URL. The “s” means secure and any site without it should be considered unworthy of your personal information.

Internet security is possible by practicing a little diligence and understanding that your information is valuable. Hackers prefer the easiest targets and creating a few blockades may prevent you from becoming a victim. Practicing safe internet behaviors can help you enjoy your online shopping experience safely.