Google pulls unauthorised banking apps

Mobile banking applications developed for Android-based mobile devices raised a ruckus last week with security issues coming to light as some Android apps were shown to be unauthorised and possibly fraudulent, reports My Bank Tracker.

Telltale signs of rogue applications in the Android market were first seen in December when Travis Credit Union issued a warning to alert their customers that a mobile banking app posted by a certain developer known only as 09Droid was not a legitimate offering from the institution.

As more institutions raised concerns about the legitimacy of the banking apps being offered by rogue developer 09Droid, Google pulled the apps from the Android Marketplace. But while Google thought it best to remove the potentially fraudulent applications, F-Secure, the computer security company looking into the matter, reveals the security community hasn't had a chance to test or reverse engineer any of the apps in question just yet.

Equity Bank has partnered with Safaricom to introduce a mobile money transfer service that will see M-Pesa customers access money from the bank's ATMs throughout the country, states

Kenya Broadcasting Corporation.

The M-Pesa to ATM service targets Safaricom's eight million M-Pesa's customers. Users of the service only require to be registered as M-Pesa customers to enable them withdraw amounts ranging between KShs 200 (R20) and Kshs 35 000 (R3 400) from any Equity Bank ATM.

The M-Pesa to ATM service that will be available to both customers and non-customers of the Bank will adopt the normal M-Pesa ATM withdrawal charges.

Online fraud has become common and is growing rapidly. An estimated £2.61 billion (R31.6 billion) was stolen online from UK consumers in the year to September, according to a YouGov survey, says Financial Times.

About one person in eight, or 12% of the population, was a victim of identity fraud during that period, and the average amount stolen was £463 (R5 600).

The value of online banking swindles rose 55% to £39 million (R472.3 million) in the six months to June, according to Financial Fraud Action UK. Criminals get account passwords and siphon off money. Credit card ID theft - in which criminals get hold of card details and use them to buy goods and services, often via the net - rose 23% to £23.9 million (R289.4 million) in the first half of last year.