Mexico to push mobile banking

Mexico's push to bring more people into the banking system and out of the cash economy will get a helping hand this year when regulations are put in place to allow consumers to make basic financial transactions using their mobile phones, reports Wall Street Journal.

"We are creating a regulatory framework to allow mobile phones to be used like a debit card," said Carlos Marmolejo, director of technology and risk management supervision at the National Banking and Securities Commission.

Policymakers have sought to increase access to financial services in recent years by issuing new bank licences and promoting the use of banking agents - third parties such as retailers hired by a lender to conduct transactions for their clients - to complement traditional bank branches.

Some of the UK's largest banks are doing too little to protect their online banking customers from identity fraud, according to a new report into Internet banking, states QCK.

Computing experts at 'Which?' have reviewed the security measures for the major banks' online banking systems to evaluate how effective they are. The experts found that Abbey and Halifax both had poor log-in security, while Barclays was found to have 'excellent' security. Natwest, Nationwide, Lloyds TSB and First Direct were deems as 'good', while Alliance & Leicester and HSBC were 'average'.

The log-in process for online banking can be exploited by keylogger technology, a virus which sits in a computer, picking up keystrokes and working out passwords and pin numbers.

Action to prevent criminals abusing new mobile phone technology, which allows them to be used like debit, credit and pre-pay cards, has been agreed by the UK government, mobile phone and card payments industries, Home Office Minister Alan Campbell said last week, according to TMCnet.

The new technology, which will allow customers to buy things by swiping them over sensors in a similar way to Oyster cards, is being trialled by phone companies and banks in the UK.

In an effort to design out opportunities for crime and reduce harm to consumers, the government has been working with industry to ensure the technology builds in tough security measures at the earliest stages.