Call your bank: Just flip out your phone, dial in the digits of your bank’s customer care number and wait for that polite voice at the other end of the line. You may then proceed to relay your ordeals to him or her and you can rest assured that all the much-required information and list of documents you need to get your account up and running once again, will be given to you.

Get the documents ready:  This is the part where you either begin ransacking a drawer full of dusty documents or just pull open a safe to retrieve your documents. The documents you may need include a valid form of identification — it could be any valid means of identification, or a recent utility bill that’s not earlier than 3 months.

Visit the bank: Right now you’re probably thinking ‘Why can’t I just do it via online banking and move on?’. Sure, that’s a thing, but, it’s just one of those security measures which have to be taken to avoid impersonation and stories that touch.  Just walk into the closest Banking bank branch and present the documents. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. 

Have some money ready: Keep some cash handy as you go and just think of it as a reconciliatory tool that will be used in nudging your account back to life.

Request a debit card and your mobile app:  This is probably the most ideal thing to do to ensure your account remains active. With the mobile app, you’ve got access to your accounts 24/7 and the debit card just helps you save time on bank transactions.

That’s it! Easy-peasy. Put a call through to your bank now and get that dormant account of yours running again.

Job loss: People losing their jobs is a thing and what’s even scarier is that this is happening more often in this present time than it did some years back and we can blame the economic downturn for it. When this happens, those who have an emergency fund usually just fall back on it to make ends meet until they are back on their feet.

Medical bills: One minute you’re all giddy and in high spirits and the next minute, you’re down with a nasty cold that won’t allow you to lift a limb. You get the scenario, right? Unless the bones in your body have been replaced with bionics or you’ve got kryptonite flowing in your veins, then, you are bound to fall sick sometime. But when you do,  your emergency funds will be there to bail you out.

Home repairs: The way household items fall apart is really absurd. One day you just wake up to find that your toilet is overflowing or your pumping machine has packed up. Nobody budgets for these things but they just happen and the ability to have them replaced or repaired lies in whether or not you’ve got an emergency fund.

Emergency travels: Sometimes, you might need to travel for impromptu business meetings as a business owner or travel to sort out family issues as an individual. Just see emergency funds as a soft cushion to land on when you’re knocked off your feet by an unexpected financial crisis.

Basically, when you have an emergency fund, you’re prepared for just about anything. It can be quite humiliating to keep borrowing money from friends or even family to pay off bills. Banking Savings Account is just the right thing you need to begin your journey towards peace of mind. Don’t say we never did anything for you.

1. Negotiate with credit card processors.

The best way to negotiate with payment processors is to be seen as a merchant that adds value, thus making the vendor want your business, said Rey Pasinli, executive director at Total Apps, a merchant service provider.

You can negotiate with credit card processors by leveraging your transaction volume. This is because the more you sell, the more transactions you perform, and the more value it adds to the processor, Pasinli said.

“Processors, just like any other business, can negotiate with their suppliers off of the volume of processing their clients complete,” he said. “The more you give them, the more negotiating power they have upstream to lower their overhead in different areas. In turn, they can lower your rates if it is worthwhile to them.”

2. Reduce the risk of credit card fraud.

The higher security risk you pose as a merchant, the higher your credit card processing fees will be. You have two primary ways of reducing the risk for credit card fraud: swiping credit cards and entering security information, said Jeffrey Gehrs, president at Electronic Merchant Systems, a credit card processing company.

“Swipe as many cards as you can,” Gehrs said. That’s because the rates set by card brands like Visa and MasterCard are higher when the cards are keyed in based on fraud risk, he explained. “With new technology, like cell phone swipers offered by full merchant-service providers and microprocessors like Square, there are few excuses to not swipe the majority of your cards.”

Merchants can also lower the risk of fraud by providing security information that protects the cardholder and validates the purchase. An effective way is to always enter the billing ZIP code and security code when prompted, Gehrs recommended.

“This seems like a small nuisance, but bypassing this step could cost your business over 1 percent of each sale,” he said. “Similar to keying in sales, forgoing this process means a higher rate due to fraud risk.”

3. Use an address verification service (AVS).

To take a step further in reducing credit card fraud, use an address verification service (AVS), a system that verifies the cardholder’s billing address with the card issuer. This fraud-fighting tool has a big benefit in the world of e-commerce, including limiting chargebacks.

During the checkout process, the customer enters their address, which is then compared to the address on file with the issuing bank. Once the comparison is made, the issuing bank sends an AVS code to the merchant, who can then use the code to authorize or reject the transaction.

Both Visa and MasterCard support AVS globally, and in the U.S., Visa incentivizes businesses to use AVS by providing a lower interchange rate when merchants perform an AVS check on transactions.

4. Properly set up your account and terminal.

Sometimes, a simple mistake can lead to higher credit card processing fees. Avoid this by setting up your account the right way from the start, said Fenella Kim, founder and CEO of Reliance Star Payment Services. If you set up your account improperly, you risk incurring higher processing fees from providing incorrect business information.

“Setting up the account properly [impacts] how the fee structure works,” Kim said. “The type of business, type of transactions and frequency of transactions matters.”

Similarly, the way your terminal is set up and used also affects processing fees. Kim suggests making a habit of processing transactions within 24 hours, which lowers the number of transactions for that period and thus reduces processing fees.

“If you do your batch process every day, it is more cost-effective instead of every few days or a few times a week,” she said. “Don’t wait, [because] the longer you wait to process, the higher the fees and rates.

5. Consult with a credit card processing expert.

Most small business owners know next to nothing about credit card processing. Gain a better understanding and an advocate by consulting a credit card processing expert. Not only can these professionals debunk credit card processing myths, but their knowledge and relationship with processors can also help you get lower rates for your business.

“Here is the secret that merchants are always shocked to find out: Regardless of their size or amount of volume, virtually all credit card processors buy their rates directly from Visa, MasterCard and Discover for the exact same price,” said Robert Livingstone, president and founder of IdealCost.com, a credit card processing consulting company. “Therefore, all credit card processors have the capability to resell these rates at the exact same price to different businesses.”

Knowing insider information like this can help small businesses gain an edge with vendors.

“Businesses are under the false impression that they have to keep switching their credit card processor in order to see a savings,” Livingstone said. One reason is that when businesses call their current credit card processors to negotiate better rates, they’ll get almost nowhere, he said.

Instead, Livingstone and his staff negotiate the lowest possible credit card processing fees with their existing vendors. “This means no switching or cancellation fees and zero downtime by switching from one processor to another,” Livingstone said. “If there is a savings, we split it with the client. If there is no savings, our services are free.”

Here’s how to put these steps into action.

Secure your hardware
With so much attention given to acquiring the newest and most sophisticated types of cyber security software, safeguarding the security of company hardware is often overlooked but the loss or theft of devices is a real threat to be aware of. Begin your cyber attack prevention strategy with the basics: protect all devices with a complicated password, share that password with the device user only and commit it to memory instead of writing it down in an easily accessible place. Do not overlook the effectiveness of physically attaching computers to desks. This is a simple, yet effective way of preventing intruders from walking away with company equipment and the sensitive data they hold.

Finally, install ‘find my device’ software on all laptops, phones and tablets. By doing so, equipment that is stolen can quickly be located by the authorities.

Don’t overlook safeguarding company hardware 
Data breaches commonly occur due to stolen equipment and so safeguarding your hardware is an easy strategy in improving your company protection from a cyber threat.

Encrypt and back up data
An effective cyber crime protection strategy must consist of two elements: preventing physical access to sensitive data and rendering that data useless if it falls into the wrong hands. Companies can achieve the latter by always encrypting their data. As highlighted by researchers in the International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, data encryption remains the ‘most efficient fix’ for data breaches, should they occur. Be sure to encrypt all sensitive data, including customer information, employee information and all business data. Full-disk encryption software is included in virtually all operating systems today and can encrypt all the data on a desktop or laptop computer when it’s at rest.

Also check that this software is activated and updated on all company devices. And minimise the amount of time a computer sits unused and unlocked by setting all devices to automatically enter ‘sleep’ or ‘lock’ mode after five minutes of no use.

Stay ahead by backing up data and storing it separately 
After encryption, backing up all data is another key way of protecting yourself from security breaches. With ransomware hackers locking companies out of their systems, encrypting their data and asking for a ransom to be paid before releasing the data, you can stay one step ahead of them by backing up all of your data and storing it separately.

Invest in cyber security insurance
Because cyber criminals continue to work tirelessly to find ever more advanced ways of breaching security defenses, even the most security-conscious businesses remain at risk of an attack. US research into the cost of data breaches has shown that in 2017, the global average cost of a single data breach event was USD 3.6m – equivalent to USD 141 per data record. The losses that can be incurred from data breaches are best mitigated by investing in cyber security insurance, yet only 9% of UK businesses and 15% of US businesses have this type of insurance, according to the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and the US Better Business Bureau, respectively.

Seek specialist advice for cyber security insurance 
Minimize your risk by seeking specialist help to select the best type of insurance for your company, based on your risk of attack and the financial impact of such an event.

Create a security-focused workplace culture
Employees are the most common cause of data breaches as many don’t recognize external threats when they occur or have a good understanding of the daily actions that leave a company vulnerable to a cyber attack. For example, the UK Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2018, carried out by the UK government and Portsmouth University found that 43% of UK businesses have experienced a cyber security breach or attack over the last 12 months, with only 20% of UK companies offering training to staff within the same time frame. Such breaches were more common in businesses in which staff members use their personal devices for work. Businesses need to ensure sufficient security training and education for staff remains a key focus, but where to begin?

Educate staff on the dangers of unsecured networks 
Banning employees from using their personal devices for work may seem like an obvious approach, but this strategy seldom works in the long term. As staff members grow tired of the inconvenience, they are likely to return to accessing work on personal devices, regardless of policies prohibiting this.

It is therefore more impactful to teach staff how to use both their personal devices and work devices in a way that minimizes the risk of being hacked. Top of the list should be educating them about the risks associated with using unsecured networks to access work information.

This should include clear definitions of what unsecured networks are, and where they are commonly found such as in coffee shops, airports, hotels and so forth. And then how to verify if a network is secure (secure networks require a key/password to access them).

Teach avoidance of unsecured websites 
Staff members should be taught about the importance of never accessing unsecured websites on work devices because this gives cyber criminals direct access to sensitive data that is stored on that device, as well as browser histories and passwords.

Discourage password sharing 
Employers can create a security conscious culture in which password sharing seldom happens. By not only educating staff members on the risks, but also by leading by example and never sharing passwords or asking staff members to temporarily log in guests, contractors and new hires.

Using protocols, such as creating temporary passwords for contractors or expediting the onboarding process for new hires, will also help to minimize scenarios in which password sharing is needed in the workplace.

Restrict network admin rights  
Restricting IT admin and access rights to a small handful of users is invaluable in minimizing the risk of data breaches as employees cannot give away information they don’t have access to.

Always entrust this information to a key figure in your IT department and ensure that (s)he is adequately trained on the safe and encrypted storage of this information.

Businesses are vulnerable without employee education 
Highlighting the need for employee education on the types of daily actions that leave a business vulnerable to cyber attacks.