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."

Mobile Banking Updates - May 16

Mobile Banking Revolution (Infographic)
"It’s no secret that mobile banking has taken off in recent years and continues to grow by leaps and bounds. To help illustrate just how much mobile banking is growing FICO pulled together an infographic with some impressive mobile stats. For example, did you know that by 2017 an estimated 1 billion people will be using mobile banking? Read on to learn more about the mobile revolution."

Mobile banking expected to grow 18% annually through 2017
"The evolution of technology has brought on an onslaught of change to the banking industry, with banks becoming more convenient and consumer-friendly through mobile strategies, according to an article from Business Insider. The article says banks have become more competitive in order to stay ahead of other financial institutions. Currently, the mobile-banking user base is expected to grow 18% each year until reaching more than 1 billion users by 2017. By the end of this year, 590 million consumers will be using the technology."

USAA launches voice command mobile banking
"USAA members can now ask their iPhone how much they spent on groceries last month or tell it to pay the mortgage on Thursday. It's all done through voice commands that the financial institution's new software not only can hear and understand, but act upon. USAA has embedded Nuance's voice recognition service known as Nina into its iPhone app for mobile banking."

Survey: 75% comfortable with mobile banking
"Mobile banking has been getting a lot of press lately. Just last week, Hawaii-based American Savings Bank announced that adoption of their newly-introduced remote deposit capture mobile feature had exceeded all expectations. Juniper research recently published figures showing that the number of consumers using tablets to pay bills will soar between now and 2017, and mobile document capture software firm Mitek revealed 12 million Americans have now deposited more than $40 billion into bank accounts using mobile apps."

What will banks do to lure more people to online banking?
"The excitement around online banking is fading. After four years of rapid growth, banks are seeing only a trickle of new customers using their online services. As a result, consumers can expect more incentives as banks try to move more people out of the branches and away from the ATMs and instead deal with them through their computers and cellphones."

Mobile Banking Plays Key Role in #1 Factor for Customer Loyalty According to Yodlee Interactive Survey
"Banking convenience dominates all options amongst reasons to stay with banks, according to a new study conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of Yodlee Interactive. With the convenience of online and mobile banking, more customers are utilizing these services, while banks are responding by reducing the number of physical branches. This survey was conducted among 2,219 Americans (ages 18+) between February 28 and March 4, 2013."

Device, Channel And Security Choices Featured At Mobile Banking & Commerce Summit
"The 2013 Mobile Banking & Commerce Summit, hosted by American Banker and Bank Technology News, will shine on a spotlight on the next generation of mobile banking applications and recent advances in mobile commerce and payments. The event will take place June 3-5, 2013 at the InterContinental Miami Hotel in Florida."

Does JPMorgan Plus Apple Equal a Mobile-Banking Home Run?
"Banking is going mobile. The largest U.S. banks have been fairly quick to adopt the new technology and are reaping the benefits as millions of users flock to mobile interfaces. JPMorgan Chase sports one of the best-received mobile banking platforms. Despite being a relatively small portion of the bank's overall operation, its ability to innovate new mobile products and efficiently serve more customers is good news for investors. In this video, Motley Fool banking analysts Matt Koppenheffer and David Hanson tell investors why this recent trend benefits JPMorgan, as well as tech giant Apple."

Mobile Banking Updates - May 12

Study: mobile banking apps key to bank loyalty
"Add mobile banking to ATMs as a major channel for cultivating bank customer loyalty. According to a study from Yodlee Interactive, a developer of financial mobile apps, one-third of those who use mobile banking name it as a reason why they stay with their bank."

DeMarrais: FDIC tips for safe mobile banking
"When's the last time you went into a bank? For many of us, trips to a local bank were once near the top of our weekly to-do list, but technology has changed that dramatically, allowing us to do most of our banking from the convenience of home or office whenever it suits us. Banker's hours? They're no longer an issue when you combine direct deposit, ATMs and online banking. Bank visits have been limited largely to opening accounts, applying for loans, resolving disputes or looking for a calendar."

Federal Reserve Board Survey Shows Growth in Mobile Banking and Payments
"Americans are increasingly using their mobile phones to access bank accounts, credit cards, and other financial accounts, according to the Federal Reserve Board’s latest report on mobile financial services. As of November 2012, 28 percent of all mobile phone users and 48 percent of smartphone users had used mobile banking in the past 12 months. This represents a significant increase from 21 percent in December 2011 for mobile phone users and 42 percent for smartphone users. While relatively less common, the use of mobile phones to make payments at the point of sale increased threefold over the same period, as 6 percent of smartphone owners reported using their phone to make a purchase."

Few Bank Shoppers Say Mobile Check Deposit Is A ‘Must Have’
"Within the last two years, more and more banks and credit unions have begun offering mobile check deposit on their mobile banking platforms. Today, there are 137 institutions listed on FindABetterBank.com and 33% offer mobile check deposit (see table below). Many banks and credit unions plan to roll out the service within the next 12 months."

ACLEDA Bank, Fiserv win tech implementation award
"Financial technology company Fiserv and Cambodian bank ACLEDA have won an Asian Banker Technology Implementation Award in the category "best mobile banking project." The award recognizes a collaboration by Fiserv and ACLEDA to extend the ACLEDA Unity mobile banking and payments service to new, untapped consumer segments using Mobiliti Reach from Fiserv."

Understanding Consumer Adoption of Mobile Banking in 2013
"It came a lot faster than anyone predicted: Mobile banking is growing so quickly that it is even overtaking traditional online banking. Just last week, the second largest bank in the United States, Bank of America, announced that its customers are logging into the bank’s mobile platform more than its online platform. It’s quite possibly the most significant innovation across the industry since the ATM."

Mobile Banking Plays Critical Role In Customer Loyalty While Tablet Apps Lag Behind
"A lack of banking apps optimized for tablets leaves consumers to resort to a cruder mobile web experience. According to a study from Yodlee Interactive, mobile banking may keep loyalty high while physical branches continue their decline. 71% of mobile bankers are either satisfied or very satisfied with their bank’s mobile and web offerings. One in three of those who use mobile banking now view their mobile banking experience as a reason why they stay with their bank."

Mobile Banking Vendor Updates

Yodlee Announces Global Adoption of Financial Services Platform
"Yodlee, Inc., the leading provider of online personal financial management (PFM) and revenue-generating payments solutions and services, announced details of the rapid adoption in Europeof its Yodlee 10 platform in conjunction with its presentation at FinovateEurope in London today."

Mobile Banking Pioneer Firethorn Shifts Gears
"In the mobile banking business, a one-size-fits-all approach just doesn't cut it, as Firethorn Holdings LLC found out. Now the Firethorn team is focusing on a new loyalty rewards technology. The Qualcomm subsidiary, once considered a mobile banking pioneer, attracted banks that wanted their service preloaded on basic feature phones before the days of the iPhone and other app-friendly devices. It eliminated a lot of the legwork for banks, forming agreements directly with wireless carriers to get apps that aggregated access to multiple financial institutions on their latest phones."

mFoundry Launches mDeposit Express Convertible Mobile Deposit Solution
"mFoundry announced it has launched mDeposit Express, a 'standalone mobile deposit capture solution that banks and credit unions can use to provide customers with an immediate mobile deposit solution, regardless of their current mobile banking platform.' In related mobile banking news, ClairMail announced an impressive 234% year-over-year revenue increase for 2010, along with other assorted growth statistics."

Ericsson launches mobile banking services
"L.M. Ericsson (ERIC) launched its own mobile financial services business today, offering mobile operators, financial institutions and others with a mobile money services that it said can be connected to a real-time, cross-border, cross-currency switching network."

Monitise adds to Visa deal
"Mobile banking services provider Monitise has signed a new deal with its major shareholder Visa, which could lead to forecast upgrades. Visa International owns 14.3% of AIM-quoted Monitise. The extended agreement with Visa announced last summer lasts until June 2015 and there are minimum fees of $16m over the period."

Video Interviews by Christophe Langlois

Earlier today Christophe Langlois (Founder of Visible-Banking.com) published a video interview that he and I conducted in New York after the Finovate 2007 conference hosted by Jim Bruene (Editor - Online Banking Report.)

If you get a chance please take a look, but more importantly be sure to check out all of the other videos that he recorded the very same day.

Brandon McGee, VP & Senior Product Manager at Huntington Bank

Andrew Taylor, CTO at Jwaala

Murali Subbarao, Founder & CEO of Billeo

Aaron Patzer, Founder & CEO of Mint.com

Chris Larsen, Founder & CEO of Prosper

Peter Hazlehurt, SVP Product Management at Yodlee

Patrick Gannon, SVP Lending at Lending Club

Bob Homer, VP Product Management at CheckFree

Christophe Langlois is truly an innovative thinker when it comes to social networking and online innovation. If you do not check his blog daily you are probably missing out.

New Entrants to the Mobile Foray

If you thought it was difficult to select a mobile banking vendor before, hold on, because the options are growing exponentially. Case in point, just this week two formidable companies announced the release of their mobile banking solution for the U.S. Specifically, I am referring to:

The Yodlee product integrates multiple channels by utilizing both browser and SMS technology. This is a trend that we will most likely see repeated, because as Peter Hazlehurst (Yodlee - SVP of Product Development) states, “It’s clear that mobile banking strategies need to incorporate at least two key elements: 1) ubiquity of access via multiple channels and 2) relevant, personal content that delivers what consumers really need when they’re on the go.”

Sybase has also announced that their mobile banking solution will be available to financial institutions in the U.S. This development comes shortly after they commissioned a survey, which was administered by Loudhouse Research, in which they found that, “66 percent of mobile subscribers in the Americas are interested in services that allow them to check bank account balances via their mobile device.”