It starts with one early Black Friday deal. Then come a few gifts ordered from your phone, a stop at the hardware store, a streaming free trial that turns into a subscription, and a gas fill-up on the way to Grandma’s. By mid-December, your account has a lot more going on than usual, and a charge you don’t recognize can be easy to miss.

Take five minutes to check your card and account settings before the holiday shopping rush. It’ll be easier to follow purchases and spot anything unfamiliar.

Before holiday shopping: Review your alerts, debit-card controls, contact information, login security, and saved payment methods. These quick checks can make it easier to follow purchases and respond if something doesn’t look right.

Your 5-Minute Checkup

1

Your alerts: Review the transaction and account alerts available to you.

2

Your debit-card controls: Check what’s set in CardHub.

3

Your contact information: Confirm the phone number and email address on your account.

4

Your login security: Review your passwords and sign-in settings.

5

Your saved cards: Review payment methods stored in stores, apps, browsers, and mobile wallets.

These checks can make it easier to keep track of purchases, limit how your card is used, get important messages from us, and act quickly if something looks unfamiliar.

1. Review Your Transaction and Account Alerts

More shopping means more activity on your account. Alerts can help an unexpected purchase or account change stand out instead of getting lost among dozens of normal transactions.

Look at which alerts are available for your accounts and cards, and turn on the ones that are useful to you. Make sure they go to a phone number or email address you actually check. Alerts sent to an old work email won’t do you much good in December. If you aren’t sure which alerts are available for your account, ask us.

Remember: Alerts help, but they don’t replace looking at your account. Check your recent activity and statements during the season, especially after big shopping days.

Review Our Fraud and Security Tips

2. Check Your Debit-Card Controls

CardHub, available through our mobile banking app, lets you manage how your enrolled debit card can be used.

With CardHub, you can:

  • Turn your card on or off. When it’s off, purchases and withdrawals aren’t approved, except for recurring payments you’ve already scheduled.
  • Set controls based on location, spending limit, merchant type, and transaction type.
  • Check transactions and balances for enrolled cards. Merchant details are shown in a recognizable format, so it’s easier to tell who charged you.
  • Report a card lost or stolen through self-service options.

Card controls are management tools. They help you decide how your card can be used, but they can’t stop every unauthorized transaction. Think of them as one useful layer.

For example, if you generally shop close to home and don’t expect purchases outside the area, reviewing your location controls may be useful. If you’re traveling for the holidays, check your settings before leaving so they reflect how and where you expect to use the card.

Spending controls may also help you set boundaries for certain card activity, but they shouldn’t replace a holiday budget or regular account review.

Learn more about CardHub and our security tips, or explore our personal checking and savings options.

3. Confirm Your Phone Number and Email Address

If we need to reach you about your account, we’ll use the contact information we have on file. An old phone number or an email account you no longer use can cause delays or confusion right when you want answers quickly.

Make sure the phone number and email connected to your accounts are current and that you can still get into both.

Use trusted contact information: If you need to update your information, contact our team by calling a number you know is ours or by stopping by a branch. Don’t use contact details from an unexpected text or email.

Contact Ergo Bank

4. Strengthen Your Login Security

Your online and mobile banking login matters a lot. A few habits help keep it strong:

  • Use a strong, unique password for online and mobile banking.
  • Don’t reuse passwords across your banking, email, and shopping accounts. If one retail site has a problem, a reused password can expose your other accounts.
  • Turn on multifactor authentication wherever it’s offered.
  • Keep everything updated, including your phone, browser, operating system, and our banking app.
  • Never share verification codes with anyone who contacts you, even if they say they’re calling from your bank.
  • Secure your email account. Password-reset messages often go there, so it deserves a strong password too.

Know what we won’t ask for: Ergo Bank and Fiserv/Accel will never ask for your full debit-card number, PIN, account number, or Social Security number when calling you directly.

5. Review Saved Cards and Mobile Wallets

Your card may be saved in more places than you realize, including retail sites, shopping apps, subscription services, your web browser, and mobile wallets.

Saving a card isn’t a problem in itself. It’s just worth knowing where your card is stored.

Before the holidays:

  • Remove expired cards and cards saved in accounts you no longer use.
  • Review card-on-file payments. CardHub lets you see both one-time and recurring payments made to merchants that keep your card on file. It’s a quick way to find a forgotten subscription.
  • Check your passwords on retail accounts that store your card.
  • Look at your mobile wallet. Make sure only the cards you expect are there. You can add an enrolled card to Apple Pay or Google Wallet through CardHub.

Don’t Forget the Store or Seller

Your bank settings help you manage your card, but they can’t make a fake store real.

The Federal Trade Commission recommends researching an unfamiliar seller before buying. Search the seller’s name and website address along with terms such as “review,” “complaint,” or “scam.” The FTC also recommends keeping receipts and order confirmations in case something goes wrong.

Before buying from an unfamiliar seller:

  • Go straight to retailer sites you know instead of clicking links in ads, texts, or emails.
  • Be cautious about prices that seem unusually low, especially on brand-name items, which could be counterfeit or stolen.
  • Review the seller’s return, refund, and shipping policies before buying.
  • Walk away from sellers who insist on gift cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency, or other payments that are hard to reverse. According to the FTC, only scammers tell you to pay with a gift card.
  • Report suspected fraud through the FTC’s official fraud-reporting website.

What to Do if a Purchase Doesn’t Look Familiar

Don’t panic. Many unfamiliar charges turn out to have a simple explanation. Work through these steps:

1

Check the merchant details

Compare the charge with your recent orders. A business’s billing name may be different from its store name.

2

Ask other authorized card users

Find out whether someone else who is authorized to use the card made the purchase.

3

Turn your card off in CardHub

Consider turning it off if you think the card may be at risk.

4

Contact us promptly

Call 920-398-2336 or visit one of our locations.

5

Change affected passwords

Update them if you think someone may have accessed an account.

6

Keep a record

Save information about suspicious messages, charges, and contact attempts.

Find an Ergo Bank Location

Take Five Minutes Before the Shopping Starts

None of these checks takes long, and together they can make your account activity easier to follow during the busiest shopping weeks of the year. They also help you understand which tools are available before you need them.

If a setting, purchase, or message raises questions, contact our team or visit one of our locations. We’re happy to help.

View CardHub and Security Tips  Contact Our Team

Frequently Asked Questions

What card settings should I check before holiday shopping?

Start with five: available transaction and account alerts, debit-card controls in CardHub, the phone number and email address associated with your account, login security, and the places your card is stored, such as retail accounts and mobile wallets.

Can I turn my Ergo Bank debit card on and off?

Yes. If your debit card is enrolled in CardHub through our mobile banking app, you can turn it on or off. When an enrolled card is off, purchases and withdrawals aren’t approved, except for previously scheduled recurring payments.

What can CardHub help me manage?

CardHub lets you turn your card on or off and set controls by location, spending limit, merchant type, and transaction type. You can also review transactions and balances, see card-on-file payments, view spending insights, add your card to Apple Pay or Google Wallet, activate a card, report it lost or stolen, and set a PIN.

Should I remove saved cards from online stores?

You don’t need to remove every saved card, but it’s worth cleaning up accounts you no longer use. Remove expired cards, close unused retail accounts when appropriate, and use strong, unique passwords for accounts that store payment information.

Are mobile wallets safe for holiday shopping?

Mobile wallets are a common and convenient payment option. Keep your phone locked and updated, review the cards stored in your wallet, and monitor your account activity.

What should I do if I see a debit-card purchase I don’t recognize?

Check the merchant details and your recent orders first, and ask anyone else who uses the card. If the charge still looks wrong, consider turning your card off in CardHub and contact us promptly at a number you trust or at a branch. Keep records of anything suspicious.

How can I tell whether an online store is legitimate?

Search the seller’s name along with “complaint” or “scam,” read reviews from several sources, and check the return and refund policies. Be careful with deals that seem too good to be true. Avoid any seller who asks for gift cards, wire transfers, or cryptocurrency.

Should I use the same password for banking and shopping accounts?

No. Use a unique password for online banking and different passwords for your email and shopping accounts. If one retail account is compromised, a reused password could put your other accounts at risk.