When I am traveling, I check my bank and credit card accounts more frequently than I do at home. I want to know what exchange rate I am getting for foreign exchange on my credit cards or via an ATM. I also want to be vigilant about fraud, so I check all of the accounts I am using every couple of days while I am away.

When I am at home, my credit card company calls me if there is an unusual transaction on my credit card. When I am traveling, I need to check that for myself. If I were to find a fraudulent transaction, I have phone numbers I can call, collect, from anywhere in the world for each of my various accounts.

Of course with services such as billpay, you can pay your bills, transfer money, buy and sell stocks and mutual funds – effectively manage all of your money matters from thousands of miles away. Since I’m on vacation, I don’t want to spend a lot of time attending to these things, but I do want to know that my finances are running smoothly.

I have as many bills as possible sent electronically (utilities and credit cards) and have things like my mortgage paid automatically from my checking account. On most of my trips, I need to log on and pay my credit card bill or utilities.

With a few minutes every couple of days, I can keep tabs on my finances without interfering with my travel activities.

But there is one more thing to be concerned about as you pay bills and check your bank accounts: computer security while traveling. I’ve asked Cheryl, a computer expert to write about this important matter.