Safeguarding Your Digital Wallet

  Mobile payment is changing the way consumers pay. With more and more businesses offering their services online, the need for a safer way to pay online is the crying need of the hour. As online transactions increase, businesses in the payments industry are consistently adopting advanced technologies to protect their consumers interest. At the same time, even the most secure (payment) systems can be compromised, especially if the consumer uses a weak password or if a device ends up in wrong hands. Therefore, we all have a role to play in keeping our digital wallets safe. In the same way, we protect our physical wallet today, it is imperative to protect our digital wallet too.

Keeping your sensitive information safe can be easy and inexpensive. There are a few simple things that consumers can do to ensure the safety of their money, as they increasingly use the convenient method of payment—digital wallets.

 The guidelines that should be followed to safeguard your digital wallet are:

 Enable Device Password: Set your devices to require a password before they can be used. Today, most devices including smartphones come with a system lock feature that allows you to lock the device when not in use. Some devices can automatically lock themselves if not used for a while.

 Always Connect to a Secure Network: Use only the networks you trust, especially whenyou do online transactions. A rule of thumb is to avoid open Wi-Fi hotspots as they are usually insecure and could be a trap laid by hackers who want to steal you’re your information.

Keep Login Credentials Secure: Never share sensitive financial data and login credentials (usernames, passwords, PINS and answers to your security questions) with anyone, especially the ones you don’t trust. Don’t write down information used to access your digitd1 wallet. Don’t use the same password you use for email or social networking sites. Instead use a unique password for your wallet.

Install Apps From Sources You Trust: The world of apps also features many fake apps that are designed to collect your sensitive data. There may be suspicious app that look exactly like the real wallets. The users need to be extra careful while installing the official wallet app in their smartphone. Carefully read user reviews that can provide some clues about the integrity of the app.

 Keep Your Devices Up-To-Date: An up-to-date device is more secure. Hardware and software manufacturers release frequent updates to optimise performance and security of your device. They include counter measures for newer threats; therefore, ensure they are installed.

 Use Security Software: There are many security applications, including firewalls that can detect and remove threats such as viruses and malware.

Monitor Account Activities: Monitor the account activities regularly. This will help you immediately know about any authorized activities in your account. If any such activity is detected, immediately report it to your financial institution.

Security Measures

To mitigate risks associated with digital wallets, users and wallet service provider must undertake security measures to prevent a data breach. Mobile payment service providers must take all the necessary steps to ensure the security of their mow. payment app, protect payment data and prevent data breaches in the backend. Many mobile payment apps use SSL/TLS to protect data when the app connect to the Internet. These mobile payment apps must validate the security certificate% received from the server. If a mobile payment system receives an invalid certificate, it should stop immediately and alert the user that a potential attack is likely to happen.

Table 1 provides a comparison of the security measures that need to be followed by users and wallet providers respectively to secure confidential data.

Service Providers

Security Measures for Digital Wallet Users	Security Measures for Digital Wallet Security service providers
Use strong pin/password/screen lock pattern to protect mobile devices	Place specific limits on funding
Upgrade mobile operating systems regularly and apply all security patches	Specify the parties and method, authorised to fund the accounts
Prevent downloading malware on mobile device	Specify the nature of the legal tender used to fund the accounts
Use cautions when receiving suspected SMS messages and emails	Monitor the frequency of loads to the account
Do not connect to untrusted hotspots for Wi-Fi access	Apply enhanced and ongoing due diligence on merchants, and monitoring for their compliance with regulatory obligations (i.e. use mystery shoppers)