Mobile Payments vs. Hackers

The trend in mobile payments offers an array of benefits. But how secure are these payment solutions against the possibility of a breach?

In the age where credit and debit cards are slowly but surely becoming relatively obsolete, mobile payment platforms waits in the shadows to become the new majority player.

Google Wallet, Square, Apple Pay, and PayPal are all names to know in the near future, because they will be at fore ensuring your transactions are completed in an efficient manner.

However, the potential vulnerability of these services is a cause for concern. As such, The Clearing House, an advocacy group that is owned by the world’s biggest commercial banks, wanted to raise these types of questions in their new report.

The report is titled “Ensuring Consistent Consumer Protection for Data Security,” and attempts to argue that despite their support from established and start-up firms, they are not held to the same standard as banks do regarding cybersecurity.

“These alternative-payment methods certainly are providing something that consumers want, which is a convenient way to make payments,” CEO of SnoopWall, Gary Miliefsky says. “But I don’t think most of those consumers would be too thrilled to know that these companies might not be subject to the same demanding data-security requirements their banks deal with.”

The major problems occur when a company does very little to ensure that their customer’s identity and data are safe and secure, removed from a potential hacking situation. The policy of just waiting until a breach does occur is no longer a tolerable practice.

“Unfortunately, a lot of companies don’t realize just how vulnerable their apps are and what the potential is for leaking their customers’ personal information,” Miliefsky says.

The report details some of the problems and offers suggestions in order to remedy the them.