Talking Security with iovation at Mobile Payment Innovations Summit

Those who follow the mobile payments field know that one of the biggest things holding the field back is perception of security, or rather, a lack thereof.

People afraid of being on the bad end of the next big data breach are proving hesitant about directly handing over payment information, and that’s keeping a lot of people who would be using mobile payment systems out of the field.

Max Anhoury, vice president of global partnerships for iovation, took to the stage at the 9th Annual Mobile Payment Innovations Summit to talk mobile payment authentication, and what systems can do to unburden the minds of users.

Anhoury’s session at the show actually sums up the problem in a nutshell. Titled “Balancing Fraud and Prevention with Functionality: the Ongoing Mission,” that’s the problem that mobile payments faces in general.

It needs to protect its operations sufficiently, yet make it easy enough for authorized users to get in and make payments that the system is worthwhile.

Thankfully, there seems to be plenty of willingness to use mobile payments, as Anhoury noted that over the next five years mobile devices will be used in making payments 175 percent more often—almost triple current numbers—over the course of the next five years.

Naturally, where there are more users, there is more money, and thus more potential for fraud.

From there, Anhoury will go on to discuss new options in passcode security and the reduction of friction between user and user authentication, which can result in substantial mobile cart abandonment. That’s a detail that has particular importance for businesses, who want to see as few carts abandoned as possible.

A system that’s too hard to clear in authentication isn’t used readily by consumers, and that means the point is lost. A system that’s too easy to access means thieves can easily get in, and that also means consumers won’t come on board.

Ideally the balance should be struck evenly, but threading that needle can be a tall order. Biometrics represents a great possibility, but not every device can handle this new authentication measure, and that limits the size of the pool that businesses can reach.

It’s a difficult proposition, and one that will require innovation to successfully achieve. We need safe systems, but safe systems that can be readily used.