When it comes to banking online, some people tend to wonder if a bank is legit or not. Sometimes we notice that some rates are too good to be true, making us believe that the bank might just take our money and run. Before you bank with anyone online, it’s important that you follow a few steps to make sure a bank is legit before you proceed and open up an account.

Check for the FDIC insurance logo

The first thing you’ll want to do before you even start your research is to look for the FDIC insurance logo. The logo looks something like the logo here –

Now remember a bank can just throw up a logo even if they aren’t legit. It’s not to hard to copy an image and throw it on a website. The best thing to do after you spot this logo is to head over to the FDIC’s bank find section of their website and search for the bank. If nothing pops up, you may be looking at a scam. If the bank does pop up, this means that it is FDIC insured and your money will be safe.

Another thing you need to look out for when you do your bank find is to make sure that bank is operating under a different name. Some banks may open up a different name for their online bank. Make sure that you know this information before doing your search. If it becomes confusing, simply call the bank itself and ask for the FDIC certificate number.

Once you find out if the bank is insured, there are a few other things you’re going to want to spot before filling out the information.

Spot the SSL on the browser. Whether you’re surfing with Internet Explorer or Firefox, etc, make sure that the application and the bank website itself is in SSL mode. This is a mode that protects yourself from hackers when you send sensitive information from your computer to the bank’s servers. The best way to find out is to look for the lock either on the address bar or on the lower toolbar.

Make sure the bank has a phone number. Sometimes people overlook this one. When you’re banking with an online bank, make sure the bank itself has a phone number so that if anything goes wrong, you can simply call them up instead of waiting for an e-mail response.

These are the most important parts when it comes to working online banks. As long as you make sure that the bank is insured and you have a proper way of contacting, being safe with your money shouldn’t be an issue anymore. It also never hurts either to look for reviews on the banks as well.

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