After attending the Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona – an event focusing on the rapid expansion of the mobile ecosystem, showcasing innovation in both m-payments and m-commerce. Commenting on the rapid growth in the sector, I wanted to point to key concerns with regards to securing transactions over the mobile channel.

He comments; “there are no set standards for securing m-payments and m-commerce transactions yet, mainly due to the fragmented market caused by the rush of companies competing for market share.”

“M-payment apps are easy to download and use. However, security is at its weakest at the very start of this process, namely at the enrolment and activation stage of the app. So although the user has identified and registered himself to the app, the next stage, which is a crucial one, is often missing. That stage is to identify, or enrol, the app onto the mobile phone. Fraudsters are increasingly capitalising on this weak link, and enroll the now active apps to their phones instead, giving them the freedom to pretend to be the account holder and steal the money in the account.”

“Security for m-payments and m-commerce apps needs to be built-in at the design stage rather than be treated as an after-thought, otherwise app providers risk disgruntled customers and reputation damage.”

nice