A firewall bank account is an intermediary account between an individual’s main checking account and accounts used for online transactions. By using a firewall account, a person can lower the risk that a transaction through an online store will result in the main account being exposed or hacked.
A firewall account is also referred to as a buffer account.
The main purpose of a firewall account is to add another level of security to online transactions, whether through PayPal, eBay, Amazon or some other site where account details could potentially be exposed. To set up a firewall account, an individual opens a new account - often with an online bank - and only places money in it when he or she wishes to make an online purchase. The firewall account is purposely kept at a low or zero balance so that if the account is compromised, little or no money is lost.
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