Gemalto offers its insights into secure mobile banking
31 July, 2013
category: Biometrics, Financial
Mobile banking has experienced a massive spike in consumer adoption over the last few years, with the Bankers Association estimating that 62% of adults prefer mobile banking to ATMs or physical banks locations. Moreover, the number of mobile banking utilities is on the rise as well. With this additional functionality comes increased security concerns, a subject Gemalto recently tackled.
It used to be that consumers could only check their balance, send money and find ATMs, but banking with mobile devices – Chase’s QuickPay for example – enables users to deposit and pay bills as well as send money to any phone number, even if they don’t bank with Chase.
There are a number of features that contemporary mobile devices have that make them more secure than the banking with a PC. As Gemalto sees it, however, features like geo-location, biometrics and device identification are the keys to bolstering authentication to our banking sites and apps.
To further illustrate the point, Gemalto offers the example where the user logs in to their mobile banking website or app with a typical username and password. The bank then asks the user to provide their biometric – be it voice, facial recognition using the phone’s camera or a fingerprint. All the while your bank can be using the geo-location feature of your device to verify your location.
This feature is important because if your device is attempting to conduct a transaction from a city, state or country outside the customer’s normal use you could be prompted to provide additional information to prove you are who you say you are. Add the fact that many next-generation smart phones promise to include fingerprint sensors, and all the necessary components will be readily available for banks to leverage. It’s a simple, albeit effective means of multi-factor authentication that can help to further safeguard you and your assets.