Mobile Forum Tackles Security

Two-Day Event Focuses on Guidance, Authentication
Mobile Forum Tackles Security
Remote deposit capture, regulatory compliance and authentication are expected be hot topics on the agenda at this week's Mobile Financial Services Forum in Arlington, Va.

Hosted by BITS and the Financial Services Technology Consortium, both divisions of The Financial Services Roundtable, the two-day forum aims to give banking institutions a preview of what they can expect in the way of mobile guidance, especially in the area of security. "As new product channels develop, we realize there is an element that wants to exploit those," says Paul Smocer, president of the Financial Services Technology Consortium. "That's something we need to address now, before this channel develops much further."

Three of the forum's sessions are dedicated to discussions surrounding remote-deposit capture. From a technology perspective, Smocer says mobile RDC is among the more mature offers, and a number of service providers and financial institutions have already invested in the technology. What that will mean from a regulatory and security standpoint is worth exploring, Smocer adds. "When you look at the services in this area, they're appealing to customers and the institutions," he says. "It's a service offering that fills a gap that's not necessarily being filled in other way today."

A mobile RDC panel discussion Oct. 14 will include RDC service providers who are expected to talk about RDC maturity and capabilities for mobile, as well as discuss some of the security and fraud risks associated with mobile RDC.

Future regulatory mandates related to security guidance also will be a featured. On Oct. 15, a panel will discuss the current regulatory framework and assess whether it is deemed adequate to keep up with the continually growing and diverse mobile channel. "We know that various agencies are looking at the mobile space individually, and various agencies are looking at this space collectively," Smocer says. "Will they create something new related to mobile services, or will existing regulatory guidance be applied to this arena?"

Authentication also will likely be a topic that falls into the regulatory-compliance fold. In some ways, mobile is considered a more secure financial channel, because of the financial institution's and service provider's abilities to easily authenticate a user's identity when he or she conducts financial transactions, especially payments, via mobile phone or smart phone. An afternoon panel discussion on Oct. 14 addresses whether multifactor and out-of-band authentication opportunities make mobile a preferred and more secure channel.

Other emerging areas, such mobile peer-to-peer payments, the role mobile could play in the U.S. payments industry's move to the EMV chip standard, and competition between financial institutions and third-party service providers for mobile market share are other agenda highlights.

"The takeaway from this," Smocer says, "will be more along the lines of, having all these constituencies in the room, how do we work collaboratively going forward, not only to make sure the product offerings are being rolled out, but that they are being rolled out in a way that best mitigates the risk?"


About the Author

Tracy Kitten

Tracy Kitten

Former Director of Global Events Content and Executive Editor, BankInfoSecurity & CUInfoSecurity

Kitten was director of global events content and an executive editor at ISMG. A veteran journalist with more than 20 years of experience, she covered the financial sector for over 10 years. Before joining Information Security Media Group in 2010, she covered the financial self-service industry as the senior editor of ATMmarketplace, part of Networld Media. Kitten has been a regular speaker at domestic and international conferences, and was the keynote at ATMIA's U.S. and Canadian conferences in 2009. She has been quoted by CNN.com, ABC News, Bankrate.com and MSN Money.




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