Security Vs. Convenience: The Eternal Struggle in Mobile

The explosion of smartphones and tablets has given consumers convenience like never before, and also opened up a whole new channel for fraudsters to target. In many ways, the ease-of-use of mobile makes it a ripe target for cyber-criminals; any attempt to put more security layers in a mobile device could make it less appealing to consumers who want to simply click on an app and go where they're going.

Financial institutions are, of course, very experienced on this topic, and have been working on striking the perfect convenience-security balance when it comes to mobile banking. As Bank Systems & Technology reported in our September digital issue, banks have to consider how many layers of security customers will be willing to navigate in the name of security.

New security measures in the mobile channel such as geolocation and biometric authentication are helpful in fighting fraud, but banks risk turning off customers to their mobile offerings if they add too many inconvenient security barriers to keep out the bad guys.

Some have opined that mobile has grown in popularity precisely because it is convenient, and customers will resist measures that make them take an extra step to access their mobile banking.

Ultimately, much of the responsibility must rest on the consumer, who should realize their little phone is actually a powerful computer and treat it as such. And banks must continue to do their part in educating their customers on mobile security.

Bryan Yurcan is associate editor for Bank Systems and Technology. He has worked in various editorial capacities for newspapers and magazines for the past 8 years. After beginning his career as a municipal and courts reporter for daily newspapers in upstate New York, Bryan has ... View Full Bio