Within the past five years, mobile banking has become the new channel of choice for consumers. Today, 81% of all banking consumers own a smartphone, and 60% of them use mobile banking. This popularity is justified; after all, who wants to wait in line at a branch when you can perform essential bank functions from the convenience of a smartphone?
Despite this increase in usage, over half of American consumers have security-related concerns when using mobile banking. This significant disparity is interesting, and unearths a few critical questions: Where is the banking consumer’s trade-off between what is convenient and what is secure? And at what point will they make a decision one way or the other?
Convenience vs. Security
For banking customers, a mobile phone is a comfort device. It is a constant and convenient companion, and one that houses nearly every important function of their lives. Because of this, customers are much more likely to overlook their security concerns about your mobile app in the name of convenience. The consumer’s demand for a quick and simple user experience overshadows most other aspects.
Even so, banks should not rest on their laurels. Your bank’s mobile app might be one of dozens on your customer’s mobile devices, but they will ultimately be more skeptical of the security features your banking app provides. Why? Because that’s where all of their hard-earned cash is stored. To them, your mobile app is the vault that holds all of their finances, and that can be a scary concept.
Fortunately, for customers, banking mobile security has never been stronger. Mobile security—in many respects—is even more secure than desktop devices that use internet banking due to the increased need for biometric authentication like fingerprint or FaceID.
Unfortunately, for financial institutions, most customers simply don’t understand the intricacies of mobile banking security, making them understandably wary when the topic of security arises.
Best Practices for Enhanced Mobile Banking Security
Because consumers remain uncertain of mobile banking security, it is a good idea to brush up on a few tactics to ensure your institution is up to date. Some of these strategies include:
- Layered Security: A simple way to show your customers that your mobile app is secure is through a layered security approach. The concept is simple: customers who are simply viewing account balances don’t need the same level of security as those who actively move money in and out of accounts. For the latter action, which is obviously a higher security risk, your bank can ask for additional authentication from the user, such as a push notification or PIN.
- Native Mobile Security Features: As previously discussed, mobile devices offer an additional layer of authentication that most desktop devices don’t possess. Ensure that your mobile app can handle the latest biometric innovations from mobile device developers.
- Fraud Detection: Modern digital infrastructure allows monitoring of customers’ activities across multiple channels and devices.Effective fraud detection prevents activities outside of an individual user’s typical patterns to go unchallenged across mobile apps on smartphones, tablets, or even online browser sessions.
Want More Info on Mobile Banking Security?
Learn more about mobile banking security and digital banking strategies while you’re on-the-go by listening to this episode of CSI’s Fintech Focus podcast.