Submitting Bank Statements – Can it Lead to Cyber Fraud?

Highlight: Cyber frauds are steadily increasing thanks to a majority of people shifting to online banking. But the question is, can submitting personal banking statements lead to cyber fraud? 

There’s plenty of instances in life where you might encounter a situation that requires you to submit your bank statements. For instance, you have to submit bank statements to a company for an instant loan. The question is, how do you know whether submitting bank statements is safe and not prone to cyber fraud? Most of us are hesitant before submitting our banking details due to the steep rise in cyberbanking scams over the last few years. 

Online banking is great, but it has also contributed to an increase in the number of cyber frauds such as credit card frauds, e-money laundering, spamming, spoofing, phishing, identity theft, etc. 

This increase in cyber fraud has created a strong sense of fear among individuals, even if it’s legitimate loaning companies such as EarlySalary. The queries around online Instant loan apps are often all related to safety concerns about submitting bank statements. 

If you are applying for loans, then the most crucial document you need to submit is your bank statement, typically for the past 6 months. With the help of your bank statements, the lending institution determines whether you are eligible for an Instant Loan. However, there are few things that you need to be careful about before you submit your bank statements on any website. 

Who would ask you for your bank statement?

It is crucial to understand that you should only submit the bank statements to apply for loans, rental services, etc. Therefore, only rental companies, banks, or lending institutions will ask for your bank statements. For instance, Instant loan apps such as Fibe will ask for your bank statement for the following reasons.

• The primary purpose of your bank statement is to determine your loan eligibility, as Fibe will check your total income and other transaction activity on your account. 
• Your banking statement will also give an insight into your saving and spending habits, which will play an important role in deciding whether you will be able to repay your loan amount and the interest rate. 
• Another thing that the lending company will look for in your bank statement is whether there are any existing monthly payments for any other ongoing existing loan in your bank statement. Any existing ongoing loan will reduce your chances or will make you ineligible for an instant loan.

Hence, these are the reasons why any lending institution will ask for your bank statement. However, with the frequent instances of cyber frauds out there,  you should always keep in mind the safety of your banking details while filling forms online.

How to ensure the safety of your bank statements?

This question is always there when it comes to sharing bank statements online. Prevailing cases of cyber fraud often make us skeptical about sharing our banking information with websites easily, and rightly so. Here are a few ways to ensure your submission does not fall into the wrong hands!

1. Check whether the loan institute is legitimate: The first thing that you should check is to confirm whether the loaning body providing the Instant loan or any other type of loan is legitimate or not. One way to check the legitimacy of any organization by asking around or checking for online reviews of their service. Another is to ensure they use the latest security measures to protect your data. Fibe, for example, encrypts all customer data and operates on the HTTPS protocol.
2. Only share bank statements for loan purposes, rental services, or legal cases– If any illegal or unknown organization asks you to submit bank statements, then you must immediately count it as a red flag.  
3. Ask questions and go through the FAQs on the official website of Instant loan apps- When a loaning institution asks you to submit bank statements, you have every right to ask them questions regarding the safety measures taken by them to address any concerns regarding the safety of your information. For instance, Fibe has a separate FAQ page, where you can go through your doubts by reading the answers to similar concerns by other customers. 

Stay Safe!

There are always chances of cyber fraud and scams when submitting your banking details online. However, it is in your hands to keep your banking data secure by making sure the lending institution is legit and has good reviews over the internet. 

To find out more about Fibe instant loans and how easy they are to receive:

Download the personal loan app here, or log in to our website and be a part of the #OneSmallStep experience.