In today’s digital world, fraudsters never sleep. They’re always planning schemes to get your personal information, including your passwords. Most people have lots of different digital accounts for everything from finances to social media, so it’s increasingly important to take steps to keep your personal information safe. One way you can help protect yourself is by using multifactor authentication (MFA) whenever it is available.

What is multifactor authentication (MFA)?

Multifactor authentication (MFA), also called two-factor authentication (2FA), is a security method that adds an extra layer of protection to the sign-in process. It requires users to verify their identity in additional ways beyond just entering a password. The added step (or steps) can be a variety of things, like scanning your fingerprint on your phone’s fingerprint reader, approving sign-ins using push notifications or entering one-time passcodes.

How does multifactor authentication work?

By enabling multifactor authentication on an account, you’ll keep would-be identity thieves from getting into that account with a password alone. You can typically choose a multifactor identification method among the following options:

Something you know: passwords, passphrases or PIN codes.
Something you have: a specific security app or digital token, your email or your phone.
Something you are: fingerprints, facial recognition or voice recognition.

Does Grow have multifactor authentication?

We’ll automatically require a second method of identification when you log in to your Grow account from a new device, browser or geographic area. To turn on multifactor authentication for every future login:

1. Select Settings from the main menu in online banking from a desktop computer.
2. Navigate to the Security tab.
3. Enable two-factor authentication.

When you enable two-factor authentication at Grow, we’ll send you a secure, one-time code via text or call (depending on what you choose in your settings) each time you log in. This means that to enter your account unlawfully, someone would need both your account password and physical access to your phone, which is unlikely. Two-factor authentication is a great deterrent for identity theft! We’ll never call you and ask you for the one-time code. You’ll only be asked to enter it on the log in screen. Remember to never read anyone security codes over the phone.

For more details about multifactor authentication, check out this MFA info sheet from cisa.gov.

Phishing scams, online scams and identity theft are increasingly common. Learn additional ways you can keep yourself safer online.

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• Security Education