Cash it or trash it: The millennial banking mantra

Each generation puts its mark on society and the millennials, born between 1981 and 1997, are no different. This generation of 92 million was born with technology in their hands, and they are having a profound effect on the banking industry. Their mantra: I want it, and I want it now! With an estimated $200 billion to spend annually, they have become a force to contend with. This group is pushing banks to expand their boundaries, and mobile banking is at the heart of it. Payments made through mobile are growing exponentially. Banking has always been about relationships and reputation. But this is changing with millennials’ preference to have a digital relationship with their bank instead of a personal one. With the personal aspect set aside, millennials base their banking satisfaction on how easy the banking app is and how fast they can pay bills using their phone. If the experience is not easy and fast, then there are a myriad of social channels and outlets to let the general public know of their disdain. It is basically cash it or trash it.

The Mashup

Balancing customer convenience with security is the conundrum that has to be unraveled. According to FICO, a credit scoring company, in the event of a single incident of fraud nearly 30% of customers say they would close all their accounts and leave their bank. With 1,579 data breaches in 2017 alone, almost all personal identifiable information (PII) such as Social Security numbers, names, addresses, phone numbers, passwords, and more have been exposed. Hackers are buying and selling the information and leveraging it for account takeover and other types of fraud. If there is a way to steal data, be sure hackers will figure it out. NuData Security analysts found that account takeovers increased tenfold in 2017 alone. Banks who believe they have not been targeted by cybercriminals probably think they are in the clear simply because they have not seen any suspicious activity. However, mass-scale attacks are often not easy to find if subtle, specific signs are not sought after. For instance, attacks such as credential testing or credential harvesting only happen at the login stage and are invisible if banks are only looking at the transaction stage. For this reason, the fraud numbers may well be much higher once companies get full visibility into what’s happening in their traffic. For this reason, it’s important to have a security solution that provides a smooth and convenient experience to millennials while protecting their online financing activities.

The New Normal for Mobile Banking

The new normal for mobile banking is identifying users using parameters beyond the username and password. Biometrics’ growing presence is providing a new authentication framework to identify real customers while reducing fraud risks. Millennials are more than ready for this change: according to an Accenture study, nearly 80% of customers would be willing to use biometrics if it meant tighter security. Biometrics adds another layer that improves security and customer trust. Passive Biometrics and behavioral analytics – combined with a multi-layer security solution – can create a holistic risk-based authentication infrastructure that looks across multiple vectors of the user’s behavioral interaction. Doing this will allow banks to avoid the risk of authentication fraud while ensuring that their valued mobile customers have convenient access to banking services and that they can enjoy additional rewards and benefits. This approach allows banks to develop new and innovative services while avoiding being trashed by millennials.   — Related to this post: Mobile Technology Is Changing the Customer Relationship   Authenticating on today’s breached world? Watch our webinar featuring Forrester analyst firm. Want to read more posts like this? See our full blog here.