While PC-based online banking is not much older than a high school student, mobile banking is still in elementary school. With the proliferation of smartphones, however, online banking's younger sibling is quickly catching up to the slightly more established option.
Banking through your PC's web browser offers a full menu of services. You can easily and conveniently schedule payments, transfer funds, add new payees, open new accounts, apply for loans, view current and past statements, and access information about specific checks that have been deposited. A PC or Mac allows you to view an extensive array of details and options, giving you full control of your accounts.
Mobile banking is very popular internationally. In some parts of the world, traditional banking infrastructure is not consistently available, and so mobile banking is the primary banking option. With a few exceptions, mobile banking, typically conducted via mobile application, offers the same basic features as browser-based online banking. In particular, mobile banking emphasizes "transactional" features, such as bill payments, check deposits (where available, this feature allows a customer to take a picture of a check to be deposited), mobile person-to-person payments, and balancing checks.
Mobile banking can also offer additional security by enabling text-backs, which employ a customer's phone as a second form of authentication when using either browser-based or mobile banking.
If you use your smartphone to access your bank's website directly, the website may recognize that you are using a mobile browser and automatically offer you a dedicated application. If not, search your preferred mobile market or app store to see what your bank offers. Either way, it's a good idea to give mobile banking a try. It's a time-saver that can often be more secure than traditional online banking.
Robert Siciliano, personal security expert contributor to Just Ask Gemalto. Disclosures
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First, being a fledgling platform, it is rife with security flaws that can make mobile banking extremely dangerous. As evidenced by thee early Android devices storing password in clear text ot the iOS storing encryption keys in an accessible location.
Next, it does not mention the fact that using a text-based authentication methodology relies on an inherently insecure protocol. This utilizes clear text and can easily be subverted and spoofed. Not exactly something I would trust with authenticating transactional events.
And finally, the current development environment is years behind in secure development training and methods. Developers very rarely understand the full implications of invoking various APIs to get their app to work. As a result, the app will store data in unknown locations (usually in clear text) or provide root access to other device functions or data. All of this because the developers do not have a deep understanding of the platform. It is not the developers fault since the platforms are constantly in a state of flux but in the end, it still puts mobile banking very high on the risky venture chart.