Text message alerts protect against card fraud

The recent highly publicized 7-Eleven and Radisson card fraud incidents are hurting consumer confidence and could have been prevented with simple text message banking fraud prevention solutions. These incidents add to consumer negativity in an already weakening economy and early signs suggest that the financial services industry knows that it must respond.

Mobile text messaging or SMS is the easiest and most obvious mobile service for banks and card issuers to offer today. People want more control over their financial accounts and banking transactions, so they can closely manage their own identity and hard-earned money. Whether in a purse, pocket or backpack, mobile phones, using standard text messaging, already have the ability to protect every debit & credit card in your customers’ wallets.

Text messages can be set up around specific data triggers, such as cash withdrawals or deposits and credit card payments, so that bank customers will know immediately when erroneous or fraudulent transactions occur on their bank or credit card account, anywhere in the world, anytime of the day or night. If a text message alert beeps on a customer’s phone indicating suspicious account activity is taking place, they can stop what they’re doing, notify you immediately, and stop fraud in its tracks. Many financial institutions, such as Standard Bank, Moneybookers, and Metropolitan, are ahead of the curve and already sending SMS alerts, giving customers instant visibility, as transactions occur.

Working with banks and card issuers, bulk SMS aggregators can provide text alerts, giving power directly to the customer, so that they can scrutinize each transaction as it happens. In a similar manner, text messaging can be used in mobile banking to deliver one-time-passwords (OTP’s) and ensure strong authentication when consumers access online accounts. RSA Data Security and Entrust – two top providers of authentication – use SMS to send passwords to enterprises, financial institutions and governments around the world.

With an ‘SMS-as-a-Service’ model, any organization concerned with fighting credit and debit card fraud can implement a bulk text message-based system quickly. Banks cite a 40% reduction in the high cost associated with fraud after deploying a mobile banking fraud prevention solution. Banks and card issuers can roll out the new service with an opt-in via existing call centers, online or physical branch visits – to collect cell phone numbers and receive permission from customers wanting text message fraud alerts.

Fraudsters lose while customers, banks and card issuers win with mobile text messaging solutions .

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Tags: mobile banking, mobile financial services, Mobile Financial Services Solutions, mobile messaging, SMS, SMS banking, SMS gateway, text message, text messages, text messaging