Useful tips for secure transactions
Make your transactions online while staying safe and secure.
Infrastructure of Piraeus Bank
At Piraeus Bank we apply modern methods that secure your transactions, protect your data and shield the communication channel from third party access. Therefore, we take care and provide you with the following security measures:
Firewall
The access to the bank’s systems is monitored by special programs (firewalls), which allow the use of specific services by the clients/visitors, while forbidding the access to systems and data bases with confidential data and information of the bank.
Data encryption
From the beginning until the end of a Piraeus e-banking session, all your information and personal data are encrypted based on the encryption protocol SSL-128-bit (SecureSocketsLayer).
Fraud Detection
The bank has installed fraud prevention and detection systems for the prompt detection of unusual and suspicious transactions. If such a transaction is detected, the bank contacts you before executing it.
Automatic logout
If during a Piraeus e-banking session the system recognizes that no action has been made within 10 minutes, it automatically logs you out for your own safety.
extraPIN code
The extraPIN is the code that:
- you receive via push notifications or SMS to a predefined mobile phone that you set during your Piraeus e-banking registration
- is necessary for the execution of your transactions
Password deactivation
In case you insert wrongly the password three times, then, for your own safety, it is automatically locked and your access to Piraeus e-banking is prohibited.
How to protect yourselves
Regular change of password
For your better protection, you must change password regularly, no later than 3 months. Your new password should not be the same as one you recently used for Piraeus e-banking.
Product exception
Through Piraeus e-banking you have the option to choose the products that you do not wish to access.
Security notifications & alerts
Piraeus e-banking informs you automatically and free of charge through special security alerts sent by push notifications or SMS for all transactions involving transfers to third parties within the bank, as well as foreign remittances, regardless of your subscription to the Piraeus Alerts service.
By subscribing to the Piraeus Alerts service you also ensure:
- immediate information for all your account and card transactions
- notifications every time your credit card statement is issued
- notification one day before your scheduled payment, for any insufficient available balance in your account or for exceeding the payment amount you have set for your direct debits
- notifications for successful and unsuccessful execution of a scheduled payment
- daily valuation of your stocks portfolio
- real-time updates about your buy and sell stock exchange orders
Extra tips for the digital world
For more security in your online transactions and in Piraeus Bank's digital banking channels, please follow these basic principles:
Make sure the page you have visited is secure
Before entering sensitive data to a site check whether it uses encryption. Evidence that the site is encrypted are:
- Https (“s” stands for “secure”) at the beginning of the site
- Lock icon next to the site’s address or at the bottom right corner of the window- depending on your browser
- The green color and the bar of addresses (which means that the certification required for the encryption of the data is valid)
You can check the certificate of the site by clicking on the lock icon. In the window that opens you can see if the certificate is valid and who the owner of the page is.
For your online purchases, always choose e-shops that offer the possibility of payment with strong customer identification, e.g. with Verified by Visa, Mastercard Secure Code.
Always be on the lookout for dangerous (Hoax) e-mails
- Links to fake sites: Always check where a link redirects you to before you click on it. Place the cursor on the URL and check if the address is the same as the one appearing on the tooltip.
- Do not trust e-mails that ask for personal data or transfer you to sites that ask you fill in your username, password or any other personal information e.g., name, VAT number, date of birth. Piraeus Bank will never send any e-mail of this kind.
- Be careful in wording. Often, the fake e-mails use poor Greek, as far as spelling or syntax are concerned. They give out the impression that they have been written by a person not fluent in Greek.
Choose a strong password and renew it regularly
Password is your first line of defense against online attacks, which is why it is very important to choose strong passwords and change them often. When setting a password it is useful to keep in mind the following:
- create different passwords for all your important accounts
- use passwords with many characters
- use a combination of letters, numbers and symbols in your password and do not use a series of identical characters e.g. b2222222 or characters with a logical sequence e.g. 123456, abcde
- use a phrase that only you know and do not use data such as your birthday, ID, VAT number or name e.g. spiros123
- under no circumstances do not save or write down your passwords
- your password is personal and don't share it with anybody, even if they are bank staff
For even greater protection, where possible, enable two factor authentication.
Management of daily transfer limit
To ensure maximum security in transactions, we recommend that you set via Piraeus e-banking the "Daily Transfer Limit" for the transactions "Third party transfer" and "Transfer to other Banks/Remittance".
The limits can be adjusted at any time via Piraeus e-banking.
Transaction additional verification mechanism
Piraeus Bank has implemented a new transaction additional verification mechanism* on selected monetary transactions** via Piraeus e-banking, for enhanced security.
Specifically, if you are required to provide additional authentication in order to complete a transaction in Piraeus e-banking, you will be asked to enter 2 of the 4 digits of the PIN of your personal Piraeus Bank debit card.
- If you have more than one active Piraeus Bank debit card in your possession, you will be asked to select the debit card you wish for the transaction additional verification mechanism.
- If you do not have an active personal debit card, you will be asked to enter the code (OTP) that will be sent to the contact e-mail you have registered/confirmed in Piraeus e-banking.
*The new way of transactions verification is in addition to those required for the strong authentication of transactions in Piraeus e-banking in accordance with the implementation of the European Directive (PSD2) for Payment Services and enhances the security of transactions with its correct use
**Transactions to trusted beneficiaries are also included
Other useful tips
- Piraeus Bank will never ask you in any way (by phone or e-mail) for account details, card details or passwords. These are personal data and you should not disclose them to anyone.
- Check the e-mails or SMS carefully and compare the sender's address with the previous, real messages you have received from us.
- Do not open e-mails from senders unknown to you.
- Avoid downloading files (games, music, videos, free programs etc) from untrustworthy sites.
- Install special protection programs on your devices (anti-virus. anti-spyware etc), which you should regularly update to their last version.
- Regularly update your programs (operating systems, browsers, etc.) to the latest version.
- Do not use computers and mobile devices that do not belong to you and are not trustworthy. Avoid using computers that are placed in public places such as Internet Cafés, hotels, convention areas etc.
- Avoid using untrustworthy Wi-Fi to access winbank even if it’s provided for free.
- If you detect “strange” function of your computer, very probably caused due to installation of malicious programs, use the protection program of your computer and/or contact a specialist.
- Avoid using pirate software either for operating systems or for any other function.
- Do not intervene in the software of your mobile devices (jailbreak, rooting etc).
- Do not store your card details in browsers.