One of the most important in this modern day living right now is to ensure that your old mobile number is no longer linked to your bank account, investment account, or other personal services, otherwise your livelihood may be at the mercy of the new owner.
When you stop using your mobile number over a long period of time, your service provider could reissue the number to someone else, leaving you open to potential security risks.
What does this mean? If your old phone number is linked to your bank account, an investment fund, or two-factor authentication of an important service, once that line is re-allocated to another person, all your notifications and tokens for those services will go to this new owner.
If they are malicious or criminal in nature, then you risk having your money stolen or service shut down or hacked.
That is why it is important to make sure that your old mobile number is no longer linked to your bank account and to any other service.
Remove Your old Phone Number From These Services
So, if you stop using an old mobile number, quickly do an audit to find out if it was attached to any services you use. If it is, you need to login to that service and change the linked number. If it is a bank account, you need to get in touch with your bank to find out how to unlink the number.
How to Update your mobile number without visiting the Bank
Since this article was inspired by an email from Guaranty trust Bank, here is how to do it through the self-service menu in your GTBank Internet Banking account. Text instructions follow after the video.
Guaranty Trust Bank says you can update not only your old mobile number, but your name, email, address, date of birth and other personal information this way. And here are the instructions in text:
- Visit www.gtbank.com
- Log on to the GTBank internet banking platform
- Click self-service on the menu (Left)
- Select Customer Information update
- Click New Request
- Then, select account number and update type Eg: If you want to update your mobile number, select Mobile Number as update type.
- Enter your new mobile number
- Answer your secret question
Click Save, and that is all!
Do not forget that an old mobile number that you no longer use or own can pose a real security or privacy threat to you and your loved ones. Stay safe. your mobile number is often a gateway to your personal/private life. Keep a guard on it.
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Thanks to Guaranty Trust Bank for this timely information and mobilityarena.
