Online Banking!

Online Banking

If you haven’t already signed up for online banking, then I recommend that you do!  It is so convenient to be able to check your bank statement before the paper one is sent to you, or to save paper by requesting that they no longer send one. 

Other things you can do:

·      Make payments online - Transfer money and pay friends, family and bills instantly.

·      Keep track of your balance.

·      Check for incoming payments. 

·      Manage standing orders and direct debits.

·      See when cheques have been cashed.

·      The main advantage of all the above is that you can do it 24/7.

·      Access your bank from your computer or your smartphone.

There are a few things to consider.  Most people have concerns about fraudsters being able to access their account and steal their money, however banks have many layers of security to make this more difficult.  No-one would bank online if the security wasn’t up to scratch!

There are things that you can do to help yourself stay safe:

·      Never save or store your log in details or password on your computer.  Even though it makes logging in quicker and easier.

·      Log off at the end of each session and not leave your computer or mobile phone unattended when you’re logged on to Internet or mobile banking.

·      Keep all your log in details and passwords safe in a place so that you will be able to find them again. 

·      Use complicated passwords that are hard to guess.  A mixture of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols are a good idea.

·      Keep your computer security software (e.g. antivirus and firewall) up-to-date and run regular security scans.

·      Be aware of people looking over your shoulder when you’re using mobile banking in public.

·      Never enter your online banking details in full on any websites or mobile applications.

In order to bank online you will need to register for online banking with your bank.  They will often provide you with a log in number and you then have to fill in the form online to set up your online account and provide 2 passwords- one for logging in and another as an extra security.

Some banks send out a little hand held device into which you can insert your bank card.  It works with your card and PIN to generate unique, 1-time 8-digit codes for use in Online Banking.  This is used instead of a password and is super safe.  Barclays use one called PINSentry.

Setting up recipients for payments takes a few minutes.  All you need to know is the account name and account plus the sort code.  The first set up often requires phone authentication - the bank call you and request the code that they display on your screen, which you type into your keypad.  Once a recipient is confirmed and set up, you can make payments in record speed.  The money is transferred in a couple of hours to the recipient’s account or you can specify when you want the payment to take place.

It sounds more complicated than it is!  Don’t be put off.  Online banking allows you to take control of your finances whenever it suits you and you won’t need to queue in the bank again to make a payment or set up a direct debit!   If your concerns are about fraud, the bank will repay you if you are a victim of fraud, so be reassured.  Online banking is probably one of the most useful things you can do on the Internet!

Podcasts. What are they and how to get them.

Podcasts from the BBC

There are some things that the BBC do really well, and podcasts is one of them! 

If like me, you enjoy radio, you will like podcasts.

What is a Podcast?

A podcast lets you automatically receive the latest episode of your chosen programme as soon as it's available.  With the BBC’s current range of audio podcasts, you can download your favourite radio programmes onto your computer and listen anytime.  You could also put them on your Smartphone and take them with you listen wherever and whenever you like.

You can subscribe to receive a podcast, rather like you might subscribe to a magazine and get it delivered each week.  All of the BBC's podcasts are free, and you can stop receiving the files at any time.

The majority of podcasts are available for either 30 days or indefinitely.   Once you have subscribed though, you can download them and keep them forever.  If you missed an episode and didn’t download it you will miss it.

 If you have a favourite radio show, and it’s a popular one, there is doubtless a podcast associated with it.  I am a big fan of Radio 4, and 2 of my favourite programmes are “Desert Island Discs” and Claire Balding’s “Ramblings”.  These are aired each week, and if I don’t hear them on the day, I could catch up using iPlayer but each programme is only available for 7 days, and if I forget to listen on iPlayer, I will miss the programme altogether, so I subscribe to the podcast.  This downloads to my phone and I listen whenever I want to.

The length of time it takes to download will depend on your Internet speed.  Podcasts don’t take up much space, but if you subscribe to lots of them and keep every episode you may use up the available storage space on your computer or phone.

To get a podcast go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts.  Take a look around the page, scroll down and find the big black box, which has a list of stations and genres.  There is a huge choice but if it is Radio 4 that you want, you will need to click it.  You then have a list of the 147 available podcasts that you can subscribe to.  When you have found one that you like, you click it and then click “subscribe for free”.  You then have to choose how you would like it to arrive on your computer.  If you have iTunes, then choose iTunes.  I find this is the easiest way!

Your next task is to open iTunes and click on the menu at the side which says Podcasts.  A list of the ones you have subscribed to will appear here.  Double click folder and a list of all the available items will appear and you can choose which ones to download.  You can listen to them using iTunes.

To get them on your phone, you connect it to the computer and choose what you put on it via iTunes or subscribe using your phone. 

My mother in law has been having trouble sleeping recently and I bought a little iPod Nano- a tiny little MP3 player which has room to put hundreds of episodes of Desert Island Discs (The entire archive is available to download – going back to the 50’s with Roy Plomley).  She also has Claire Balding and many other wonderful Podcasts to enjoy and relax to.  She is 87 and is loving her new technology and amazed it all fits in such a small machine!