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Is Your Mobile Banking App Safe? Follow These Nine Steps to Enhance Mobile App Security

Banking CIO Outlook | Monday, November 26, 2018

Industries are getting transformed with the power of digital technologies; the banking landscape is not left behind since customers expect innovative methods to interact with financial organizations. It is of great significance for the finance sector to build customer-centric applications that make the mobile experience smooth, reliable and secure. However, to integrate this technology into enterprise architecture is a challenge. Below mentioned are a few steps that financial institutions can adopt for app security.

1. Multi-factor authentication feature

This multi-factor features one-time passwords (OTP) or fingerprints that can be beneficial in adding a layer of defense which cannot be deceived easily. Single passwords before accessing a customer’s bank account could be beaten.

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2. NFC-embedded SIM cards

Organizations must recommend NFC-embedded SIM card that allows consumers to safely download their credit card information into the Near Field Communication (NFC) SIM card. It can help in protecting the account information by not carrying their actual card, and not swiping it as well.

3. End-to-end Encryption

Entities like payment cards, issuing bank, merchants play an essential role in the online transaction. Exchange of loads of sensitive data takes place in a year thereby becoming a hotspot for hackers. End-to-end encryption is the only solution to this issue as it ensures that data is safe and sound.

4. Fingerprint device

Introduction of fingerprinting device adds on to another dimension in the mobile banking apps. It obtains a variety of signals such as location, time, device type, IP address, screen size, and browser. Enterprises can even go for mobile application development firms to build an app which has fingerprinting feature.

5. Real-time text and email alerts

It is safe to use mobile banking on the smartphone as the latter has direct access to email and other text messages. Banking institutions can send real-time alerts and emails to notify a customer of their account activity, to prevent fraudulent actions.

6. Paperless banking

With the advent of mobile banking apps, industries have been hugely impacted. Banking is no exception to it as digitization has revolutionized this process. With this, banks have gone completely paperless. Adopting digital platform helps in increasing the efficiency and transparency, and the access to these files becomes quick and convenient.

7. Behavior analysis

Specialized software in the market monitors and analyzes the login location and online account activity of consumers. These mobile banking apps could flag abnormal behavior for further investigation which could be in the form of email or text message to alert the customer advising of suspicious activities.

8. Digitalized documentation

An enormous increase is witnessed in the adoption of digitalized documentation to enhance the security of mobile banking apps.

 An electronic signature can help in several domains like eCommerce, retail, banking, and call centers.

9. Secure access

By using secure connections through technologies like HTTPS, customer’s information can be better secured amid the browser and the website they are connected to and thereby protecting customers against data theft and fraudulent logins.

Financial institutions can incorporate new technologies to improve the security of their mobile apps. Institutions that offer mobile banking apps must educate their customers and aware them regarding internet security.

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