Mobile security in today’s mobile world

Let’s face it – mobile is here to stay. From 2014 to 2015, there has been a 33 percent increase in people using mobile banking applications, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. It has become very clear – mobile technology, particularly in the financial services sector, is not going away. However, with the growth of mobile technology comes unique challenges.

With more customers turning to mobile applications, having proper customer authentication and security methods in place is mission critical. We know fraudsters constantly evolve with new and emerging technology. With mobile, it’s no different.

And, because of many data breaches that have occurred in recent years, cybercriminals are buying and selling breached personal information on black markets like the Dark Web for pennies on the dollar. Consequently, fraudsters can easily get their hands on enough personally identifiable information to open or access financial accounts.

So the challenge credit unions face is to make sure the customer attempting to access or open an account on a mobile device is truly who they say they are and not a criminal trying to commit fraud. And, to accomplish this without adding friction into the authentication process. While this is certainly a challenge, it’s one that can be easily handled with a robust mobile fraud prevention platform.

A mobile-specific fraud solution is an important addition to your existing fraud prevention platform. The solution should allow a credit union to verify an identity on a mobile device by creating a persistent mobile identifier that is composed of multiple mobile-specific and identity attributes. This identifier, or rather mobile identity, creates a high level of trust for mobile transactions and significantly reduces friction for legitimate customers.

The mobile identity needs to be persistent, moving with an individual in order to deliver continuous and secure customer interactions. This is important because there are many types of life cycle events such as device replacements, phone number changes, lost or stolen phones, number porting, SIM changes, information updates and more.

Once the mobile identity is created, it should be resistant to evolving fraud tactics such as being forged, cloned, spoofed or hacked as well as to hijacking, malware and social engineering so credit unions can gain increased confidence with each transaction.

Ultimately, with a robust and on-demand mobile solution to existing fraud prevention platforms, credit unions can help drive revenue by eliminating friction in account opening, access existing accounts quicker and secure mobile interactions.

Legitimate customers in. Fraudsters out.