Digital Wallets and Security -If you are excited and passionate about using digital wallets on various platforms like those in India or other parts of the world should understand some of the basic and important factors. In essence, there is a significant vulnerability to online threats when it comes to digital wallets, which can also be referred to as electronic money wallets. It is worth noting that digital wallets are at risk of being breached by hackers who can steal valuable financial information.
Digital Wallets and Security – Outlook
As payment technologies progress, thus a need for securing and using safer methods/channels for day-to-day digital payments. Due to the pressure of accepting the need for digital banking, banks are feeling they need to decide between complying or competing or refusing and losing out completely as a result. Banks need to explore new technologies that meet the challenges of digitalisation and changing consumer behaviour every day.
While moving to electronic there is a strong need to create a robust electronic payments platform, which is not vulnerable to fraud. Given the change of pace over the last five years, banks and now FinTechs may feel the need to decide between complying or competing, as they explore new technologies that meet the challenges of digitalisation and changing consumer behaviour. Security controls that can be employed in making a payment handling application more robust can frustrate the breakers at the hardware level before reaching the application level
- Cards – CNP (Card Not Present) fraud is emerging as a top security challenge due to the Increased adoption of online and mobile channels is providing more opportunities for perpetrators of fraud
- Migration of card payments from magnetic tape to EMV Chip and PIN
- Demand for leveraging advanced technological solutions by merchants to fight fraud is increasing
- Demand for real-time analytics to identify transaction routing and detect fraud is increasing.
Security aspect losing out because of a cost factor as wafer-thin profit margins, rapid new innovators and entrants in the market focus more on issues about
- Quality of service (QoS)
- Quality of experience (QoE)
Equal significance to security (QoSec) & privacy is almost missing. The focus has shifted to ensuring optimal new solutions and experiences for subscribers and everything else is being parked in the backyard.
AI-based Hardware for Digital Wallet Systems
What if regulation comes out to enforce a strong artificial intelligence-based hardware security layer along with software. This will decrease the opportunity for hacking. Adding machine learning algorithms to detect velocity and pattern would ensure it gets safer.
In the case of any digital wallet, security checks are key. Global wallet companies like Alipay, WeChat and Apple Pay use a hardware-based security layer, which makes them more secure for online transactions. “You will be surprised because most of the banking or wallet apps around the world don’t use hardware security difficult to digest or understand why.
They actually run completely in open software mode and users’ passwords can be stolen with ease; having said that I don’t mean to claim if hardware-level security is not built-in, the wallet is not secured or should not be used, all matter is what level of transaction volumes, numbers and values we process also matter to ensure cost-effectiveness comes into play. For this to happen effectively, planning and preparation are key for the next stage of the payments revolution.
Information and Data Storage
A key issue for consumers engaging in mobile commerce and payment transactions is information disclosure. The technological constraints of mobile devices, including small screen sizes and limited memory or storage capacity, can limit the amount of information that consumers have access to during a transaction; a small screen, for example, limits the amount of text that can be displayed to a consumer. Today, smartphones are the driving force behind a lot of innovation and changing consumer habits.
Security of subscriber’s data in terms of KYC information, transaction details and sensitive information like a bank account, mobile wallet number, card details are pivotal and the key to any financial system. While making any payment with digital channels information security and data protection are the most critical components. On a second note the kind of payments, amount of payments and velocity detection, etc. under digital payments security; might seem like complicated matters. The potential risk in this is like the one at a theme park on a broken roller coaster.
If sensitive data is left unprotected, it can result in severe consequences for the service provider’s business, including financial fraud, violations of legal regulations, penalties from the regulators, loss of consumer trust, and identity theft etc. By implementing security measures at the hardware level, a payment processing application can become more resilient to attacks. This effectively secures against malicious attempts prior to reaching the actual application layer.
Points to Note:
We have covered all basics around mobile payment security and the importance of mobile payment data. AI is becoming a classifier instrument to put banks in good and best bank category. So banks that want to jump to the best category are jumping to adopt AI, BOTS and machine learning techniques. This is possible only after banks can utilise and understand the data they have. Data to serve and understand customers etc. All credits if any remains on the original contributor only.
Books + Other readings Referred
- Research through open internet, news portals, white papers, notes made at knowledge sharing sessions and from live conferences & lectures.
- Lab and hands-on experience of @AILabPage (Self-taught learners group) members.
Feedback & Further Question
Do you have any questions about AI, Machine Learning, Data billing/charging, Data Science or Big Data Analytics? Leave a question in a comment section or ask via email. I will try best to answer it.
Conclusion: There is clearly an opportunity for smart mobile/digital payments. Consumers want to pay quickly, easily and at low costs. An interesting finding is the need to add context to payments, e.g. subject or photo. Privacy and security are flagged as important by the majority of respondents. However, this was expected. With the knowledge of knowledge, we see more lean products focused on a specific group of customers.
The idea and concept are not new, however, it is very promising when targeting the right niche and addressing the right issues customers are facing. Now another type of AI which is going around like fire in a jungle; where it’s been said AI will stop all frauds and kill all issues around it. AI will bring behavioural biometrics to stop the gap and remove the vulnerability of payment systems, especially online payments.
