Security company iovation has announced the results of a study that documents a spike in the number of financial services transactions performed on mobile devices.

The research shows that mobile now claims 20% of all online financial transactions. That is up from 11% in 2012.

In 2011, per iovation numbers, mobile amounted to just 2% of financial services transactions.

“Banks are aggressively innovating for their mobile apps right now, competing for market share and customer retention,” said iovation Vice President Max Anhoury in a press statement.

That rise in mobile market share has triggered significant, new security concerns, according to iovation.

Said Anhoury in his statement: “We found that financial institutions are not able to integrate security protocols as quickly as they would like since the 'old' security measures may not be well suited for the 'new' mobile world. This means that mobile transactions can be like the Wild West for fraudsters.”

In an interview, iovation CTO Scott Waddell elaborated that the “mobile platform is proving cumbersome for fraudsters,” but they nonetheless are increasingly focused on it. He indicated there is increased use of mobile devices to attempt to lure users into giving away their log in credentials to facilitate account takeovers.

Waddell also said that up until now most financial institutions have not used mobile devices to improve account security – in two-factor authentication, for instance. But, said Waddell, there is movement by financial institutions to attempt to harness mobile as a security tool.

“More financial institutions are showing an interest in smart two-factor authentication,” he said.

Instant Insights /

Mobile Device Share of Financial Transactions Vaulting Higher

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