Mobile Banking Security - June 18

POLICE: Louisville man steals thousands via mobile banking
"A Louisville man has been arrested after police say he used mobile banking to steal thousands of dollars from multiple Kroger stores. Police say 34-year-old Boma Robert Spero-Jack went into several different Kroger stores and purchased at least 32 Western Union money orders. Each money order was issued for an amount between $195 and $500, according to an arrest report."

Mobile Banking On Unsecure Wireless Networks Is Risky Business
"Mobile banking is exploding. According to a new study from Yodlee Interactive, while physical banks continue their decline, nearly a third of U.S. adults with a bank account say they use a mobile device to access their banking information. The study conducted by Harris Interactive found that close to half of those with a bank account access their banking information on their smartphone compared to 36% of tablet owners who have a bank account."

Lenders work to make mobile banking safer and more convenient
"As more and more people use smartphones for everything from paying bills to making deposits and checking statements, banks are working to meet customer demands for faster and securer mobile options. A March report by the Federal Reserve shows that as of Nov. 28 percent of all mobile phone users and 48 percent of smartphone users had used mobile banking in the past 12 months. This was an increase of 7 percentage points from December 2011."

New Breed of Banking Malware Hijacks Text Messages
"Out of band authentication — communicating with a customer outside of his mobile banking app to verify his identity or a specific transaction — is a generally respected means of deflecting mobile banking fraud. But RSA's Anti-Fraud Command Center on Monday found and reported on a Trojan called Bugat that has been updated to hijack out-of-band authentication codes sent to bank customers via SMS. This doesn't mean out-of-band authentication via text messaging is useless, but it can be compromised using a dated, unsophisticated piece of malware."

Considering Mobile Authentication: The Why, the What and the How
"It's the single biggest banking innovation of our lives. Mobile banking is quickly becoming the channel of choice for customers, forcing banking institutions to deploy mobile solutions ahead of their strategies. What are the risks? How can institutions deputize customers to ensure mobile banking security? Join banking and security leaders from Citibank and VASCO Data Security for a frank discussion about how to create a mobile banking roadmap, including:"

Faces of Fraud: New Survey Debuts
"How are banking institutions responding to increasing cross-channel fraud attacks, and where are they making their biggest investments to enhance authentication for online and mobile banking? These are just two of the questions posed by our annual Faces of Fraud Survey, which we just launched. If you have not yet responded to this survey, please take a few moments to participate: 2013 Faces of Fraud: The Threat Evolution."

International Mobile Banking Updates - May 21

Mobile Expert Series Mark Crofton
"Cognizant SMAC Analyst Kevin Benedict interviews SAP's Mark Crofton at SAPPHIRE NOW 2013 on the mobile solution and mobile banking market in Latin America."

RBC, Bell Mobility add to payments rivalry
"Canadian bank RBC and Bell Mobility, the country’s second largest mobile operator, are to launch a service that further heats up competition in the country’s payments market. RBC’s mobile banking customers will be able to buy goods in shops using their debit or credit cards, so long as they have a compatible NFC-based smartphone from Bell Mobility. The service will launch later this year, following a roadtest with selected merchants and consumers in the summer."

UPDATE 2-Safaricom warns on mobile banking tax as profit surges
"Kenya's top telecoms firm Safaricom expects to maintain its almost 40 percent earnings margin this year but "premature taxes" could stifle growth of lucrative mobile phone-based money transfers, its chief executive said on Tuesday. Safaricom, 40-percent owned by Britain's Vodafone, said pretax profit climbed to 25.5 billion shillings ($304.30 million) in its year to end-march, off the back of 16 percent growth in total revenue."

Noor Islamic Bank launches reality mobile banking app
"Noor Islamic Bank (Noor)’s augmented reality ‘Bank in Your Hand’ smartphone and tablet application is now available for download from Apple’s App Store, the banks announced in a press reealse. Work is also in progress on adapting the app to other smart phone platforms, it said."

HSBC Bank Brazil expands DIGIPASS for Mobile deployment
"VASCO Data Security International, Inc. (Nasdaq: VDSI; www.vasco.com), a leading software security company specializing in authentication products, announces that HSBC Bank Brazil, a subsidiary of HSBC Holdings, one of the largest financial conglomerates in the world, deployed the DIGIPASS for Mobile technology for an enhanced group of retail and corporate customers, while expanding the offered online and mobile services. Currently, more than 90,000 account holders use their mobile device to access all self-service channels to execute financial transactions. With this enhancement, HSBC Brazil is the first and only financial institution worldwide to fully integrate access to internet banking, mobile services, contact center, ATMs and e-commerce."

SAP Technology powers mobile banking for Standard Bank communities
"STANDARD Bank has introduced the SAP business solutions in bringing banking services closer to the people of Tembisa in South Africa. It introduced AccessBanking as a service to help people in communities apply for a bank account and then use the account. It has used technology from SAP to enable agents to enable customers to set up bank accounts without customers having to travel to a major city. SAP technology is used to enable new accounts to be configured in the field using a mobile handheld device."

Mobile banking up 11.5% in South Korea
"The daily use of mobile banking in South Korea rose 11.5 percent in the first quarter from three months earlier, an increase aided by the growing use of smartphones, reports Yonhap News Agency citing the Bank of Korea. Transactions by mobile banking or banking services accessed via mobile handsets were valued at KRW 1.26 trillion per day in the January-March period, up from KRW 1.13 trillion three months earlier."

ING DIRECT Mobile Banking App Wins BlackBerry Achievement Award for 'Putting Customers First'
"ING DIRECT has been recognized for its unique mobile banking experience on BlackBerry® 10 smartphones. The bank, which was the first Canadian financial institution to introduce a BlackBerry 10 app, has won the BlackBerry Achievement Award in the 'Putting Customers First' category, which acknowledges customer-centric experiences that make a business stand out. The ING DIRECT mobile app provides customers with a convenient and secure way to conduct their banking transactions. The app puts an increased focus on savings through features like "Orange Alerts", pushing notifications to the BlackBerry® Hub for triggers such as account balances reaching pre-determined thresholds. This is just one of the intuitive features the bank has built into its mobile app with the aim to simplify and modernize banking for all Canadians."

PMC Bank Deploys Array's Application Delivery Controller
"Punjab Maharashtra Cooperative Bank (PMC Bank), provider of banking services to customers with utmost ease and convenience, has chosen Array Networks' ADC and server load balancing solutions to serve their customers with secure high speed connectivity for internet and mobile banking. PMC Bank required high availability, speedy performance and reliable security for their internet and mobile services portals. They wanted to enhance their online transaction processing in order to provide customers with good user experience and around the clock service. PMC Bank conducted a detailed requirements analysis with their compliance and networking teams which was subsequently shared with various vendors. All the leading ADC products were tested; Array Networks' Proof of Concept (POC) solution was selected after a month of live internet usage at PMC's production site."

Banking now goes high-tech with unmanned services
"Standard Chartered Bank customers no longer need to endure long queues to access financial services after the lender opened a digital branch last week that offers unmanned banking services. Dubbed ‘Breeze@ The Junction’, the electronic banking unit provides all the banking solutions available at traditional branches, but through online and mobile banking as wells as intelligent ATMs. The units are fitted with iPads, personal computers, touch screens mounted on walls, and free wireless Internet; allowing customers to carry out transactions on their own."

BAI Mobile Banking Announcements - Nov5

Vasco Uses IPhone, IPod Touch for Authenticating Users
"Vasco Data Security said Thursday it is bringing its Digipass product, which is used for two-factor authentication, to the iPhone and iPod Touch.

The company has developed a version of the application for the Apple devices that can be downloaded for free from the App Store. Vasco's server products are also needed for the system to work.

Digipass for Mobile can be used to authenticate users and sign transactions or documents in areas such as mobile banking, e-banking, e-commerce and enterprise security, according to Vasco. There is also an API (application programming interface) for integrating the system with a company's own applications."

Nation's Largest Credit Union Service Organization Adds New iPhone/iPod Touch Applications to Mobile Banking Platform
"Easy on-demand access to financial information is the driver behind the explosive growth of mobile banking. PSCU Financial Services, the nation's largest credit union service organization, has made its mobile banking platform even more cutting edge with the launch of new iPhone(TM) and iPod® touch applications, which are now
available.

This latest capability will help credit unions attract Gen Y and other member segments who are avid iPhone/iPod users. It also builds brand recognition through credit union logo visibility on the member's mobile device and customized iPhone application in the iTunes store."

Mobile World Conference 2009

Bill Gates donates $12.5 million towards mobile banking
"The ultimate goal is to supply 20 million unbanked people with mobile financial services by 2012 in hopes of reducing theft rates, and therefore crime as a whole."

Visa will present mobile payment technology at GSMA World Congress
"Visa is expected to demonstrate Visa Mobile, its first commercial service in mobile offers that is enabled on Android powered mobile devices. Also, Visa will showcase NFC-based and SIM-based contactless payments which will enable customers to carry out mobile point of sale payments through their Visa payWave enabled mobile devices."

Sybase 365 launches SMS mobile advertising, geo-location services
"The mobile advertising service for content publishers, advertisers, carriers and consumers features dynamic, targeted, ad-funded content across SMS communication channels, with MMS to follow later this year. Enterprises can also use the mobile advertising service to promote its own offerings."

Ballmer Pushes New Microsoft Mobile OS
"So it was no surprise that the boss, Steve Ballmer, in his keynote address here at the 2009 Mobile World Congress took aim squarely at rivals Apple, Google, Research in Motion, Palm and all the other comers."

VASCO Data Security Demonstrates How to Leverage Mobile Platforms for Authentication
"VASCO Data Security International, Inc., a leading software security company specialising in authentication products, launches DIGIPASS(R) for Mobile 3.0 today at the Barcelona Mobile Conference."

Mobile Banking Updates - Oct 14

Citi and Obopay roll out P2P m-payments service nationwide
"Citi and Obopay have launched a US-wide person-to-person (P2P) mobile payments pilot for the bank's customers. The mobile payment service will be offered to all Citibank customers in the US, with a focus on Boston, Chicago, Maryland, Philadelphia and New Jersey."

Lloyds TSB Launches Mobile Banking Enhancements
"Lloyds TSB says it has "become the first bank in the UK to offer a range of banking services allowing customers to monitor and manage their money on a mobile phone. The new Lloyds TSB Mobile Services are unique in giving customers the ability to move money instantly between accounts through a Mobile Banking application and receive text messages about their finances."

With Digipass for Mobile VASCO Data Security Expands Its Authentication Software Offering
"The new version of Digipass for Mobile comes with a dedicated Software Development Kit (SDK) to enable the transparent embedding of Digipass for Mobile functionality in e-banking and m-banking applications"

More than half of retailers considering mobile contactless payments
"Aberdeen, a Harte-Hanks Company, surveyed 180 companies to outline the implications and trends related to proximity mobile payments. Retail, hospitality, and transit companies are indicating high levels of awareness for mobile payments and NFC acceptance."