Gemalto is an international digital security company which has been providing secured managed services along with applications and devices such as smart cards and tokens to ensure convenient digital services to its customers. Atul Singh, Regional Sales Director- Banking, Transport and Telecom Solutions, India Subcontinent, Gemalto talks about the scope of digital security in the mobile banking system in India?
How big is the digital security market for mobile banking services in India? What are the business opportunities that you see in the mobile banking services segment for digital security solutions providers?
Mobile banking is gaining momentum in India. According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) between February and November 2012, a total of 370 million mobile transactions took place, almost double in terms of volume over this 10-month period and a three-fold increase in value over the same period.
There are several trends that will drive the uptake of mobile banking and therefore digital security. With RBI?s mandate for greater financial inclusion, mobile banking seems to be the answer with over 900 million mobile connections in comparison to just 684 million savings bank accounts in the country with a population of 1.2 billion.
Additionally, the advent of new technology innovations as well as the arrival 4G/ LTE networks in India, it will open up newer ways of banking such as contactless payments resulting in the need for secure transactions. Furthermore, the growth in the number of smartphones will also help drive mobile banking. According to Ericsson, the number of smartphone users in India will grow up to 520 million by 2020.
With technological advances in the mobile banking sector, new threats to identity and security are also coming in the forefront, driving significant growth in the variety, scope and value of digital security services. According to Symantec?s Norton Report, 38 per cent of mobile users have experienced some form of mobile cybercrime.
As the world leader in digital security and with over 25 years of experience, Gemalto is uniquely positioned to help India?s mobile bankers to transact in the most secure environment over any platform. One of the innovative relevant solutions could be using a Mobile ID towards online banking security. The mobile ID provides users with the highest level of security using a strong authentication mechanism based on public key infrastructure (PKI) cryptography. This allows the users to securely authenticate, digitally sign documents, and confirm transactions and payments.
How has the security landscape evolved for mobile-based platforms in India?
The security landscape in India for mobile-based platforms has evolved rapidly. Not very long ago, for transactions, SMS alerts were the only form of communication that a transaction has taken place. Now, in addition to that, there are usernames and passwords required, combined with multi-factor authentications such as one-time-passwords (OTP) that enable greater security in transactions.
At the same time fraud is increasing exponentially. Penetration of mobile phones among users and mobile devices with varied operating systems/ hardware are increasing in the market. However, awareness regarding safe practices is not increasing at the same rate. We still need to bring the payment platforms on SIM card and provide a Smart card level security.
What are the technology trends that you foresee in the mobile payments segment?
The mobile payments landscape is evolving at a rapid pace, thanks to the availability of new technologies. At the forefront, technology has driven the implementation of security measures such as multi-factor authentication including OTP tokens. Additionally, security features such as Micro-SD cards makes devices tamper-proof providing banking-grade security. Also technology like Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) creates a secure execution environment within the device?s software and hardware and prevents unauthorised access of the financial applications or data. These solutions dramatically add security to mobile transactions.
Adding to this, mobile ID can play a critical role in making mobile payments secure. Mobile ID provides users with the highest level of security using a strong authentication mechanism based on PKI cryptography. This allows the users to securely authenticate, digitally sign documents, and confirm transactions and payments. It requires the user to give their phone number or a unique identifier to the bank. With each transaction, the bank authenticates the individual along with a digital signature. With the users identity authenticated on channels independent of the bank?s server, it makes it difficult for fraudsters to access any user information.
Lastly, with the onset of 4G/ LTE in the country, contactless transactions will gain momentum. Near field communications (NFC) is a short-range wireless technology that enables the communication between devices. Mobile NFC services have the potential to add a whole new dimension to people?s digital life, with mobile phones acting as contactless devices for tap-and-go applications, including transport ticketing, payment, loyalty and other retail services like coupon details and coupon redemption. Furthermore, NFC is a secure technology. The NFC SIM cards storing consumer payment credentials are certified according to security standards defined by financial services authorities. This coupled with the ability to attach a PIN code to authenticate transactions, provides users with control. NFC also provides the ability to combine numerous different cards or accounts on one device, thus enabling the consumer to cancel all of them securely over-the-air technology if the device is lost, rather than having to contact each card issuer individually.
What are the key challenges before Gemalto as leading provider of digital security solutions?
Our solutions aim to protect, verify and manage digital identities and interactions of billions of people globally on a daily basis. As the world becomes increasingly digitised and interconnected with the proliferation of data, devices, and ways to connect and operate, the sophistication and growth in security breaches is also inevitable. This means, that the Gemalto team is constantly working to ensure that our solutions have the highest security levels. While we increase security, another challenge is to keep it convenient for the end users.
What are the company?s focus areas in India?
Gemalto is the world leader in digital security. In India, we have been present for close to two decades. We have been working with Mobile Network operators (MNO), banks, the government and organisations by offering products and solutions such as online authentication, e-Banking, EMV chip cards and mobile financial services, across various sectors.
In India, we are working with major MNOs. We have also worked with over six banks to help them migrate to the EMV standard, by 2012delivered over 25 million e-Driver?s Licenses and Vehicle Registration Certificates in India. Over the last three years, we also delivered around 800,000 PKI devices – including different form factors such as corporate badges for enterprises, PKI tokens for certification authorities, banks and government bodies.
Our focus in India, as is worldwide, is to provide a convenient and secure digital experience. We canhelp banks migrate to the EMV standard, enable secure transactions for banks and enterprises by providing PKI tokens and multi-factor authentication devices/ solutions, enable government bodies to deliver projects in the field of e-governance services and smart cards for different applications. In addition, we also provide secure mobile financial solutions for greater financial inclusion and help telecom operators to monetise their investments in 4G LTE.
