Security concerns temper transactional mobile app use

Friday, September 2, 2016 - 13:05 by Simon Crisp

The lack of trust in the ability of mobile banking to keep customers safe from fraud and other forms of exploitation is preventing more people from adopting this type of service, according to a new Kaspersky Lab study.

A little over a third of people in the UK and North America are still recalcitrant about using mobile apps to manage their financial affairs, with three quarters of this group stating that security concerns were preventing them from embracing mobile banking.

Industry retail experts argue that this same issue applies to safe shopping online on smartphones and tablets, since consumers often need to be convinced that their data is truly going to be protected before they risk exposing themselves by using an m-commerce app or mobile site.

Eighty five per cent of those questioned said that they would be likely to use their mobile banking service more regularly if they could be guaranteed a greater degree of security by their provider. So there is clearly a demand for banks and other institutions to do more about providing protection to the millions of smartphone users out there.

Of course in many cases, the issue of mobile security for banking, shopping or any other mobile-focused activity is controlled to a degree by the user, with providers and retailers only able to do so much to prevent foul play.

Using public, unsecured Wi-Fi networks for banking and safe shopping online is not advised because of the ease with which such hot spots can be compromised and leave innocent mobile users exposed to the activities of cybercriminals. And with digital fraud rising year on year, it is important for consumers to take a degree of responsibility for keeping themselves safe.

Mobile use is more prevalent among younger consumers, but across all age groups it was security that received the top citation as a priority of any app experience.