how do people pay safely to invest using on-line platforms

mariner2

Hi, please forgive this rather naive question but after much research I have selected the funds into which I wish to invest a lump sum ( thanks to previous guidance on here), and also researched which platform is the best to use but it looks like they require payment by debit card but I am wary about using a debit card on-line. How do other people pay for their investments on-line? Any advice would be appreciated please as I am now comfortable with my selections and ready to invest.

Michael_Nottingham

Always done one offs by debit card - if its one of the big platforms and you are logged on securely I would be very comfortable doing this. For this years ISA I have gone down the monthly savings hence DD route.
I think some allow you to pay by cheque

bowlhead99

Via debit card online.

The payments are always done via secure encrypted web pages and usually these days have the "MasterCard secure code" or "Verified by Visa" protection layer from your bank.

If you want to stay in the 20th century you could perhaps send them a cheque. However, if you believe it is secure to send your sort code and account number and sample signature on a piece of paper through the royal mail system without padlocking the envelope, and then have that cheque knocking around the broker's office for a while before they cash it... you are a less cynical man than I.

I'd suggest that modern secure online payment methods, used on billions of pounds of transactions per day, are much better than that (quite apart from the advantage of not taking a week). Just make sure you don't have any viruses on your PC, which you should be doing anyway if you are logging into financial websites.

Another method which some brokers offer would be to electronically transfer funds from your bank to theirs using the bank details they publish, and quote some reference to allow them to associate the funds with your account with them. This also takes longer. And if you are a cynic and security sceptic, it is possible that someone defaced their website and gave you the wrong details of their receiving account, which is a similar risk to calling them up and a malicious employee gives you their own account details instead of the company's and skips off overseas the next day.

Bottom line, debit card payments these days are pretty secure and work for all their other customers. If they accept other payment methods which are more long winded and manual, you will feel that somewhere in fees. And as an aside, the process by which they buy investments for you and apply them to your account will also use computers. So, embrace the new world.

alexanderalexander

mariner2 wrote: »

Hi, please forgive this rather naive question but after much research I have selected the funds into which I wish to invest a lump sum ( thanks to previous guidance on here), and also researched which platform is the best to use but it looks like they require payment by debit card but I am wary about using a debit card on-line. How do other people pay for their investments on-line? Any advice would be appreciated please as I am now comfortable with my selections and ready to invest.

To ask a question which has been hinted at, what payment method would you suggest is more secure than debit card via a secure website? As bowlhead99 points out, a cheque is probably rather less secure.

masonic

Like others, I've no hesitation in paying by debit card. Providing you've taken reasonable precautions and have not been negligent with your debit card details, then the bank will pick up the tab for fraud on your account. However, I do tend to use a specific bank account for all electronic payments (and cashpoint withdrawals) and only move money across to it as it is needed.

masonic

alexanderalexander wrote: »

To ask a question which has been hinted at, what payment method would you suggest is more secure than debit card via a secure website? As bowlhead99 points out, a cheque is probably rather less secure.

Credit card would be ideal as the consumer protection is stronger.
Edit: Although, you'd still need an alternative payment method to invest money into the platform, so perhaps Direct Debit.

Archi_Bald

masonic wrote: »

Credit card would be ideal as the consumer protection is stronger.

Though they might treat it as a cash advance, so better check beforehand.

I have always used debit card, except for Halifax who forced me to send a cheque.

Ifts

I use my debit card to fund investments online with X-O.co.uk - it works fine.

With the Share Centre you have a few options to pay in to your account - Debit card, Cheque and BACS/CHAPS

masonic

Archi_Bald wrote: »

Though they might treat it as a cash advance, so better check beforehand.

Having re-read the OP, I think "pay safely to invest" means fund the investment account, rather than pay the platform fees as I originally thought. Funding the account via credit card would almost certainly be treated as a cash advance.

Ifts

masonic wrote: »

Funding the account via credit card would almost certainly be treated as a cash advance.

With X-O you have fund it via debit card. Its not legal to pay for shares by credit card.

lozzy1965

To make sure you are paying via a secure site, check for a prefix of https on the screen/window in which you enter your payment details, rather than the usual http prefix of most websites. The 's' stands for Secure