Sandstone Technology - Mobile banking security: 5 serious challenges, and the 7 ways to address them
Even before the events of 2020, Australian and New Zealand consumers were embracing banking on the go. A 2021 RFI global digital banking study shows that 73% of consumers are using a mobile app to do their banking, with a significant increase of 12% over the past two years. The uptake of mobile banking apps has risen dramatically across all demographics, bringing with it new vulnerabilities.In this article we outline the data security threats exposed by mobile banking, and a range of solutions the industry is working on to help preserve consumer trust, prevent reputational damage and avoid financial penalties.
Banking trends upping the ante
With the pandemic in full swing, we’ve seen consumers embrace mobile apps as a convenient, easy and safe way to bank. But beyond COVID, there are other factors boosting mobile adoption. Neobanks continue to spring up, in most cases branchless, offering interaction solely through their apps. After downloading the app, customers can digitally onboard, open their account and continue interacting with their financial services through the app. Many of the popular ‘buy now pay later’ products are set up so that younger consumers – their primary market – are captured via their mobiles and perform all their interactions through their devices.And our increasingly cashless society means that many of the newer mobile devices come with built-in wallets to replace physical credit cards, debit cards and loyalty cards.As consumers leave their wallets at home and adopt digital banking in all its forms, bad agents are zeroing in on mobile banking security vulnerabilities.
Cyber security as we know it
Cyber attacks used to be focused on digital banking through laptop and desktop computers. Attackers honed in on popular browsers like Chrome, and operating systems like Windows. Hence the prevalence of Windows viruses reported in the news and cautioned on social media.
But as mobile devices have risen in popularity, we’ve made the pie bigger. We’ve created an even larger digital playground, and there are more agents out there rising to the challenge.
In the biggest data security shift of the last two years, mobiles are now more targeted than Chrome or Windows. And their data security issues are quite distinct from those associated with traditional laptop/desktop-based digital banking.
5 reasons why mobile devices pose security issues
- Mobiles travel with you
- Two main operating systems prevail
- Older phones in the ecosystem
- App stores are vulnerable too
- Side loading apps
Read the full article at https://www.sandstone.com.au/
About Sandstone TechnologyBefore "fintech" was a thing, our founders were dreaming up new ways to transform banking, simplifying the customer journey and the employee experience.More than 25 years later Sandstone Technology is still leading the charge, innovating and evolving as the industry evolves. Our high client retention rate is our proudest achievement with 40+ financial institutions across Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the United Kingdom placing their trust in our solutions. From digital banking and digital onboarding to origination and AI-based data analysis, with cloud-based or on-premise deployment, we create flexible, robust, end-to-end solutions using a multi-channel approach that gets our clients to market faster.
For all media enquiries, please contact:Emily BaileyMarketing Manager | Australia & New ZealandEmily.Bailey@sandstone.com.au