the Money Manager

Many consumers appreciate the convenience and speed of banking and bill paying over the internet. However, some are concerned about the safety of their money and fraud artists making unauthorized transfers from accounts. That's why the FDIC and other federal financial regulators updated the guidelines on how banks should verify that someone logging on to a bank's Web site is the real owner of a particular account.

The new guidelines became effective January 1, 2012.

Here's an important change: Under the guidelines in place for years, banks were expected to require more than just a password to allow access to an Internet bank account. People logging in also needed to clear a second hurdle, such as correctly responding to a series of questions that only the account owner and the bank were likely to know the answers to.

Under the new guidelines, banks also will be expected to have additional layers of stronger security both before account access is granted and before money can be transferred out of that account.

Your bank may check that the computer you are logging in from is located where you live and not in a foreign country, or it may put a hold on fund transfers that don't match your payment history until the bank can verify that the transaction is legitimate.

Also, while most of these new security measures will operate behind the scenes, your bank may

contact you about the new controls and any changes in online banking procedures.

Most new security procedures that banks implement in response to the new guidelines will not require you to take Read More