Philip Hammond says that the UK fintech industry is currently worth £7 billion, employing more than 60,000 people. These massive, tech-driven disruptions are proof that fintech has finally emerged as a mainstream industry. Not only that, but these changes have also created numerous new trends that will benefit both businesses and consumers. Here are some to watch out for this year that will affect the financial industry:

Voice technology will grow in banking

Consumers can already operate a handful of things by voice, including music, TV, GPS, and even home security. Currently, banking is slowly catching up in order to improve customer service and prevent fraud. HSBC have reportedly saved £300 million in fraud through voice biometrics. Customers repeat a phrase after giving the bank their details over the phone in order to provide an extra level of security. Expect more banks to follow suit this year and for voice biometrics to become even more widely used.

Faster payment processing

Bloomberg reports that customers can expect banks to speed up checkout lines through a wider adoption of contactless cards. Payment Relationship Management CEO Peter Gordon said large banks do not want to be displaced so they’ll do what they can to be more efficient. In Singapore, they opened their first real-time and round-the-clock payment system called FAST. Singapore Minister for Education Ong Ye Kung talked about it at the launch of SGQR, Singapore’s single and standardised QR code for e-payment. "We will allow non-bank players to have direct access to FAST. This is to enable their e-wallets to bring greater convenience to consumers," he said. Expect e-wallets to become more widely used this year.

Blockchain-powered freelance market

The global recession along with the advancements in technology has led businesses to embrace alternative work arrangements particularly for freelancing, which is becoming increasing popular in the finance industry. In fact, the world’s first blockchain-powered freelance market has already been launched in the UK. The Fintech Times highlights how the marketplace gives employers instant access to a talent pool of freelancers. Work and skills are continuously validated and recorded, and the platform allows freelancers to create smart contracts, which ensures they get paid on time. This brings transparency and fairness to the gig economy. And Yoss explains how the current state of freelance recruitment now includes “highly rigorous skills validation and qualification tests,” as the demand for specialists in areas such as AI increases. The blockchain platform will allow companies to find freelancers based on the quality of their work rather than the quantity, which will benefit both businesses and those looking for jobs.

Alternative Finance for SMEs

Resesarch by American Express found that 30% of SMEs find it difficult to access the finance they need, despite the fact that 68% think cash flow is important to their business. In the UK an increasing number of SMEs are moving away from traditional financial avenues like bank loans. This has led to a 13% increase in the use of peer-to-peer lending in the past 12-months. Peer-to-peer collaboration is a much more streamlined way for SMEs to access financial support. For instance, micro-lenders mainly operate online, which helps reduce overhead costs and takes out the middleman.

Chatbots and robots

Apart from speeding up transaction times, fintech is also revolutionising customer service through chatbots and AI. Today’s chatbots are already able to not only understand what the customer needs but also the entire context of the conversation. This will help reduce the amount of time customers spend waiting for answers or on being hold. The technology will also mean that banking apps will become the primary form of communication between customers and their banks in the future. This will reduce costs and allow for a more streamlined service.

The finance industry is not only opening doors to faster transactions and better customer service, but it’s also creating more opportunities to work in a fast-evolving and lucrative industry. Chris Renardson points out that if anyone wants to make it in the industry, it takes more than technical and numerical know-how. So follow the above trends to stay ahead of the competition.

Below Finance Monthly hears commentary from interactive investor cryptocurrency analyst Gary McFarlane on bitcoin passing $11,000 over the weekend.

The recommendations, as expected, from the global G7-instituted Financial Action Task Force, which will see crypto exchanges and others required to provide full know-your-customer (KYC) details on clients and all parties to crypto transactions, has done little to dampen bitcoin buying.

Other top altcoins – all other coins barring bitcoin – are struggling today.

Two notable exceptions are decentralised application platforms Ethereum (its Ether token is the second-most valuable crypto), and one of its many rivals, Tron, whose founder and chief executive Justin Sun recently won the auction for lunch with legendary investor and crypto sceptic Warren Buffett at a cost of $4.57 million.

Other factors in play behind the bitcoin rally

Geopolitical tensions, notably in the Middle East; the realisation that historically unprecedented loose monetary policy by central banks is not being reversed any time soon, the China-US trade war encouraging bitcoin’s use as a conduit to effect capital flight by some Chinese investors; record high trading in distressed economies such as Turkey and to a greater extent Venezuela and some other countries in Latin American; and talk of an outright ban on crypto by the authorities in India. These are all helping to propel the bitcoin price higher, providing, as they do, a range of examples of its use case as a store of value, no matter how peculiar that may sound for such a crash-prone asset.

Is the fourth parabolic bitcoin price upturn upon us?

Talk is now turning to the possibility of “the fourth parabolic”, which postulates a rise in the bitcoin price beyond the previous all-time high at $20,000 in December 2017.

With end of year targets of $40,000 from Wall Street analyst Thomas Lee of Fundstrat Global Advisors and commodity trader Peter Brandt saying $100,000 for next year is a possibility, which would align to the run up to block rewards halving from 12.5 to 6.25 in May 2020 for bitcoin miners, it is starting to feel like 2017 all over again.

That might sound fanciful in the extreme but on past form it is a possibility – and so is a crash from wherever any potential new all-time high might form.

When bitcoin first surpassed $10,000 on 29 November 2017 it only took 17 days to reach its all-time high near $20,000, but past performance is of course not a reliable guide to future performance, especially where crypto is concerned.

New FOMO?

Judging by Google Trends, searches for ‘bitcoin’ haven’t surged yet in the way they did last time round: December 2017 scores is 100 and we are currently registering 16.

It suggests current buyers are those who have previously been in the market and were waiting on the sidelines for a new entry point. That could mean there is plenty of near-term oxygen to drive this market higher, but as always with crypto, it will be a high-risk rollercoaster ride. The fear-of-missing-out (FOMO) impulse for now is more in evidence among institutional buyers.

While the goals of these regulations are often described in detail, they frequently fail to outline just how the requirements must be met or the steps that need to be taken to achieve that compliance. Here Sarah Whipp, CMO and Head of Go to Market Strategy at Callsign, answers the question: Is regulatory ambiguity setting banks up for failure?

Take for example PSD2, which called for open APIs and the application of stronger authentication schemes but didn’t describe how best to meet these needs. With financial institutions in somewhat of a quandary, third party groups have noticed a gap in the market and stepped in to help, such as the Financial Data Exchange (FDX), The Berlin Group and the Open Bank project, who each put forth a different approach to meeting PSD2 compliance.

The three predominant authentication schemes that are currently being used are as follows:

Redirect – whereby the consumer goes to a third party and when they reach the point where they provide consent, they get redirected to the holder of data, logging in via a page branded by their financial organisation
Decoupled – when customers provide an approval via a different channel, separate to the one where they are dealing with the third party. For example, a push notification from their banking app if they are enabling access to their bank account
Embedded – when the third-party processes the customer’s security creds and passes them on to the financial institution. This method won’t work with device-based authentication since underlying organisation won’t have visibility of device being used.

For international banks in particular, this presents a tricky challenge, as they must be able to not only offer each of the aforementioned authentication schemes, but all three of these for each of the third-party groups who’ve stepped in to bridge the gap with PSD2. As a result, these banks are tackling an extremely complex policy situation in which the 9 potential authentication methods are even further compounded depending on location or circumstance. In addition, for each jurisdiction these companies operate in, regulations will be interpreted differently, making a coordinated approach very difficult.

The issue lies not in the sheer number of potential authentication methods with no clear direction from the regulators, but the fact that many of these major, global banks are currently relying on the human policy manager – knowledge siloed to a few IT group team members – to comprehend these regulatory needs. Quite often these teams would have insider knowledge, almost like living and breathing black boxes. Of course, if one of these people leaves the company, they are also taking with them a huge amount of valuable information.

Instead, banks must move away from their home-grown policy managers, and evolve to a more sophisticated and transparent policy manager for which sectors across the organisation can have a say. It is not just the IT team that has to review internal policies at these and say they’re fine. Risk & Compliance right through to the Marketing function needs to ensure they are properly following protocol.

Challenger banks, those who have broken ground in the last decade or so and remain digital-first, are actually positioned much better to deal with these issues as much of their infrastructural practices are already grounded in flexible and agile practices. Thus, many banks facing these problems are established institutions, potentially embracing digital transformation in other areas of the organisation. To ensure they can remain competitive and compliant (regulations aren’t going away, they’re only getting stronger), they must also equip their policies for the future.

If these larger organisations don’t rise to the challenge they are in danger of dramatically harming the customer experience. They need to be able balance keeping their customers’ digital identities safe and as well as comply with regulations, while making sure users can get on without obstacles. By using the latest AI and machine learning, policy managers must adapt and learn in real time to achieve this goal. Implementing this technology, organisations can build multi-factor authentication journeys that are uniquely tailored to their own business, customers, products or services. Financial legislation is constantly being updated, so flexible technology will help them easily navigate any changes with relative ease.

If mobile payment apps became as popular in the US as they are in China, banks would lose a projected $43 billion in revenue annually. Bloomberg QuickTake explains how cheap and easy payments by phone are threatening one of the banking industry's most profitable businesses.

We are seeing an unprecedented shift in consumer spending habits. But this rapid growth is introducing new challenges. Fraud is rising, yet merchants are under pressure to deliver the seamless payment experiences that consumers increasingly demand.

Network tokenization is one of many technologies that online merchants are turning to in a bid to strike the right balance between high security and a frictionless buying experience.

But according to Andre Stoorvogel, Director of Product Marketing at Rambus Payments, we should not think of network tokenization as an optional add-on. Rather, it is a foundational technology enabling secure, simple digital commerce.

What is network tokenization?

With network tokenization, the payment networks replace a primary account number (PAN) with a unique payment token that is restricted in its usage, for example, to a specific device, merchant, transaction type or channel.

The question is, how is network tokenization different to existing third-party proprietary tokens?

The main (and crucial) difference is that network tokenization ensures that card details are protected throughout the entire transaction lifecycle. Non-network tokens don’t offer this end-to-end security, introducing weaknesses at various points for fraudsters to exploit.

Network tokenization also introduces improved credential lifecycle management to keep card details current, whereas proprietary tokens do not always have issuer permission to access and manage the underlying account data.

Finally, network tokenization opens opportunities for new, enhanced buying experiences across existing and emerging channels.

What are the benefits of network tokenization for online commerce?

To fully appreciate the unique value that network tokens bring to the payments ecosystem, we need to understand how they can address the key pain points for e-commerce merchants.

Reducing the cost of fraud

We can’t get away from it. Online commerce has a fraud problem.

E-commerce fraud is growing twice as fast as e-commerce sales, with retailers set to lose $130 billion between 2018 and 2023.

We should not be surprised that one in two US merchants see fraud prevention as ‘an increasingly challenging task’. They are already spending $3.48 to combat every dollar of fraud (and this is set to rise with the global cost of fraud prevention increasing by 4% year-on-year).

And yet, the fraud rates keep on climbing. In a hyper-competitive industry where every cent counts, blindly throwing money at a problem is not a sustainable strategy.

The end-to-end security proposition of network tokenization significantly reduces the risk, and mitigates the impact, of malware, phishing attacks and data breaches. Put simply, tokenized card data is useless if stolen and for this reason, network tokenization should be the foundation on which a layered fraud management approach is built.

Combatting false declines

Given the scale of the fraud challenge, merchants and issuers are understandably adopting a cautious approach. Transaction approval rates for digital transactions stand at around 85%, compared to 97% for in-store transactions.

This leads to a high prevalence of ‘false declines’, where a valid transaction from an authorized cardholder is rejected by the merchant. Often the cause is something simple, such as an outdated billing address, but the results can be incredibly damaging.

Globally, false declines cost merchants $331 billion. 66% of consumers stop shopping with a retailer after a false decline. Unnecessary declines outstrip actual fraud 13 times over. Most tellingly, US e-commerce merchants are losing a total of $8.6 billion to declines, compared to the $6.5 billion of fraud they are actually preventing.

Network tokens can increase approval rates to reduce instances of false declines. This is because card details are automatically updated and refreshed, making it less likely for an erroneous data point to raise a red flag. Also, tokenized transactions are inherently more secure so less likely to be viewed as risky.

Enhancing the checkout experience

Despite the huge challenges posed by rising fraud, it is telling that 91% of merchants identify ‘minimizing the amount of friction introduced into the user experience’ as the main priority when evaluating their approach to securing payments.

Introducing additional friction into the checkout process, then, is a no-go. But as network tokenization reduces the value of the underlying sensitive data, it adds an invisible layer of security.

We must also remember that merchants want to focus on payment innovation, not fraud prevention. Network tokenization is more than just a security play, and can be used to enhance the buying experience.

For example, it enables consumers to see a fully branded card when checking out, rather than a mish-mash of starred credentials and the final four digits. This boosts recognition, familiarity and engagement.

It also enables payment details to be instantly refreshed when a card is lost, stolen or expires. Better still, it can enable consumers to keep track of where and when their payment credentials are being used. For example, card details could easily be push provisioned to merchant apps.

What is the industry roadmap for network tokenization?

Given the clear benefits, we are already seeing strong momentum for network tokenization for card-on-file transactions. And with EMV Secure Remote Commerce poised to debut in 2019, we can expect to see network tokenization extend to ‘guest checkout’ experiences.

There are options available for merchants and payment service providers (PSPs) looking to implement network tokenization solutions. For those with significant strategic resource, time and technical capacity, direct integration with the payment systems is an option.

Alternatively, for those looking to move quickly, qualified technology partners offer a fast-track to the immediate benefits of network tokenization (without the potential integration headaches).

But what’s the difference between a financial analyst and a credit analyst? Below David Smith, a cryptographer from the Smart Card Institute, explains for Finance Monthly.

The job of a credit analyst differs from that of a financial analyst. But they have one thing in common; a prerequisite skill in research and analysis.

A credit analyst has his/her role anchored on credits alone. Basically, the credit analyst is responsible for the vetting of an applicants credit profile to ascertain if the applicant is eligible enough for a grant or loan. In cases where the applicant is not qualified to receive a loan based on his/her previous credit records, the credit analyst offers possible solutions and alternatives to the applicant.

According to masterfinance a credit analyst sources relevant information from files of the applicant relating to his/her credit records and financial habits. When all is verified, the credit analyst can then recommend the applicant to the office responsible for the issuance of loan. Though you can get free Equifax reports for detailed business credit reports.

Credit analysts can work in the bank, credit card issuing companies (This is not to be misconstrued with the credit card manufacturers who make use of magnetic stripes in the process. Credit analyst are not into digital hardware but more into finances of a complex nature), credit rating agencies, investment companies and any other financial institution in need of their analytical prowess.

To become a credit analyst, one must need to have bagged a degree in finance, accountancy, economics or related fields.

Financial analysts on the other hand are involved in a more versatile role when it comes to finances. They carry out researches on a broader level. These researches involves a critical survey into the macroeconomic and microeconomic environment around a potential business or sector which can assist the business or sector in making informed decisions on a planned financial step they are about to take.

For instance, if a company decides to make its shares in equity available for the public to come invest in, they will need a financial analyst to look at the possibilities involved in the proposed venture and pre-tell the outcome. This will enable the company make the right decisions.

They are also required most times to forecast the financial future of a business judging from certain parameters on ground. This calls for a more detailed research and results.

Financial analysts can work anywhere the traffic in finances is massive unlike the credit analysts. Financial analyst can fit into just any business space and help business owners make decisions from the backdrop of options and findings.

To become a financial analyst, one must obtain a degree in either math, accounting, economics, finance, business management or related fields. Other fields that are likely going to give one an edge in the hiring table are: computer science, physics and engineering. Becoming a chartered financial analyst is the peak of the qualifications followed by an MBA in same field. Companies generous enough can train their staff on financial management and analysis.

Decimal Day on 15 February 1971 replaced shillings with pounds and pence. Ireland went one step further when it announced in 1999 that it would swap pounds for euros and this came to fruition in 2002. While the UK remained adamant they wouldn’t join the euro, something else has eclipsed the possibility that we might exchange our sterling for something more continental – the fact that we might not deal with any money whatsoever. There are calls from some people to begin the process of foregoing cash and replacing it with digital payment methods instead. But, will society ever go cashless?

The Argument for a Cashless Society

Since contactless was introduced, almost two-thirds of people in the UK use contactless payments, while June 2018 saw cashless payments eclipse those who used traditional cash methods. Indeed, with the rise of Monzo, customers are encouraged to spend via their card to track what they are spending and where. This allows you to make better choices. Bus companies, such as First, have begun accepting contactless payments on their buses as well as payment via an app, which offers discounted fares. Even vending machines allow card payments, while traditionally cash-centric parking meters also offer you to pay through digital means that bypass cash methods. Many industries already use cashless methods. For example, when you play online slots at Magical Vegas, there are several digital payment options to choose from for depositing and withdrawing any winnings you make, which matches the modern technology used in the video slots. These include Paysafecard, Neteller, Skrill and Paypal as well as Visa and Mastercard.

Why Might Cashless Be Bad?

Of course, the issue with switching to contactless, smartphone payments or even just relying on chip and pin, is that there is a portion of the country who either have no access to this or wouldn’t feel comfortable using it. A fixed address is necessary for a bank account, so those who live without one would be left without the money they might otherwise be able to access. Without physical money, everything relies on big data to ensure our details and bank accounts correspond. With so much money in accessible accounts, crime that mines our personal financial data may increase, especially in the advent of a data breach, which isn’t beyond the realm of possibility. Anecdotally, many say they struggle to manage their finances when they don’t have the actual cash, claiming contactless makes it easier to overspend because the money is less tangible. One of the main concerns for a cashless society is the fact that we would be at the mercy of technology – and that something that might affect this, even a simple power cut, could leave us penniless.

Cashless society may seem futuristic, but we are already making some waves in that area. While there are enough cons to ensure that we will never fully go cashless, instead it will likely be made easier to opt out of using cash as a matter of personal preference.

Contactless, or “tap and go,” is an increasingly popular way to pay around the world. But in the U.S., only 3 percent of cards are contactless. Why?

Below, Finance Monthly hears from David Worthington, VP, Payments at Rambus, on the growing obsolescence of cash.

According to the World Payments Report, compiled by Capgemini and BNP Paribas, the global volumes of non-cash transaction volumes grew by 10.1%, reaching 482.6 billion between 2015 and 2016. In addition, McKinsey’s recent Global Payments 2018 report highlighted an 11% growth generated by payments, which topped $1.9 trillion in global revenue.

A thread that runs through both reports, which helps to explain this combination of transition and growth, is real-time payments (RTP). How then are RTP – aka faster or instant payments – evolving around the globe?

Innovation in real-time payments

Many countries around the world are at various stages of implementing RTP, and challenges still remain.

In early October 2018, US Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard outlined the organization’s commitment to addressing current systematic issues limiting the growth of RTP. Summing up the challenge faced in markets around the world, she said, “faster payment innovations are striving to keep up with this demand, but gaps in the underlying infrastructure pose challenges associated with safety, efficiency, and accessibility.”

As a result, Brainard added, “we need an infrastructure that can support continued growth and innovation, with a goal of settlement on a 24/7 basis in real time.”

With established initiatives such as The Clearing House’s RTP system however, America is in a good position to accelerate adoption and implementation of faster payments.

Investment is not limited to America, though. Across the Atlantic, the TARGET instant payment settlement (TIPS) service has launched to increase the speed of euro payments in the European Union, settling payments in central bank money, irrespective of the opening hours of a user’s local bank.

In the Southern Hemisphere, it has now been a number of months since the launch of Australia’s New Payments Platform (NPP), and Reserve Bank of Australia Assistant Governor, Lindsay Boulton, has highlighted the government’s hesitancy to move services to the platform without it being firstly tested by industry. To encourage private sector interest in the scheme, a sandbox for developers to test APIs has been unveiled but there is clearly more work to be done.

But Capgemini is optimistic, expecting that NPP will drive non-cash transactions growth by not only enabling RTP, but also providing further value-added features.

Faster payments – faster fraud

These are just examples of two countries and global demand for faster payments is clearly going to grow. This growth, however, can provide the environment for increased fraud if new systems fail to learn from the problems experienced by previous implementations.

It is well known that where money goes, fraud follows. The ability to move funds quickly allows criminals to evade traditional checks like the identification of out-of-pattern activity, automated clearing house (ACH) block services and manual reviews.

There are various security approaches available to fight against fraud, but tokenization has already proved successful in protecting in-store and online card payments, with all the major payment systems, digital wallets and original equipment manufacturers adopting the technology.

By replacing unique sensitive information or data with a token, the risk associated with account-based fraud can be significantly reduced, fostering safe and secure RTP initiatives across the world.

Nowadays, it’s incredibly easy to buy bitcoin and the advantages and disadvantages of bitcoin are starting to be less blurry every day.

Despite all of that, we are still a long way from bitcoin mass adoption. Sure, there are a lot of businesses starting to accept bitcoin as payment, but there is still a huge chunk of the world that is unaware of how cryptocurrencies work. Some people are even unaware that crypto exists. Those are the people that need to be included in a global peer-to-peer currency.

Why people should start using cryptocurrencies

Whether we like or not, cryptocurrencies are now part of the global economy. If more people could see why people buy, sell and trade these cryptocurrencies, then maybe we could move one step closer to mass adoption. Here are some of the main reasons why people should start using cryptocurrencies.

Fees

If you have a bank account, then you should know by now that these accounts usually have fees associated with them. Credit/debit card fees, ATM fees, merchant fees, checking account fees, etc.

Compare to cryptocurrencies, payment gateways such as Bitpay and Coinpayments charge between 0.5 and 1% per transaction. Compared to those fees of the bank, this is nothing. Digital wallets come free of charge (unless you decide to start investing in hardware wallets).

Privacy

When you make a purchase using your credit or debit card, the bank, as well as the retailers and service providers, obtain and retain a lot of your personal and financial information. This information includes names, addresses, employers, social security numbers, etc.

Cryptocurrency transactions provide an alternative by limiting the data to a string of letters and numbers (a.k.a. A wallet address). Transaction IDs are also used to confirm that a wallet-to-wallet transaction took place.

Globalization

3 words = cryptocurrencies are borderless. Transactions are not only instant and cost-effective, but you can also make these transactions across the world. There is no waiting, no international fees, and no limitations. All you need is a smart device that can connect to the internet. Because of this, the unbanked population has an alternative solution when it comes to paying bills and earning a living.

How people can start using cryptocurrencies

There are many exchanges out there that will help you get started on your crypto journey. Remember to do extensive research on all your potential bitcoin exchanges so that you can decide which one suits your trading style the most. If you are unsure about which bitcoin exchange to use, try making small investments on your top platforms and see which system works for you. Once you’ve settled on a platform, you can start making larger investments.

People can also start using crypto if other people give them the opportunity to use it. Adoption is the key here. The more businesses offer crypto as a payment option, more and more people will be more likely to follow. If more trading platforms showcase how crypto can help unbanked people around the world, more people will start to use it. It all starts with the community. For more article related to cryptocurrency you can check etherum mining software & Updates.

Riding the wave

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are in a more stable place now and people are starting to hop on the ride. All that stands in the way of mass adoption is people being educated on how cryptocurrencies work and what good they can bring to the world.

The crypto community owes it to itself. The more positive crypto news there is, the more other people will be attracted to the technology.

Industry experts CACI forecast that 2019 could very well see mobiles usurp PCs as the main appliance for internet banking. It’s even predicted that by 2023, 72% of Brits will use apps as their main financial management source.

But mobile banking has already transformed how we spend money. Let’s explore how.

Average Spending

Thanks to banking apps, it’s easier than ever to access money. Access to phone signal granted, you can transfer money, anywhere, at any time. However, with this comes the risk of overspending.

And many people can’t resist the temptation to buy more than they need. In fact, a recent report by Bain & Co. revealed that on average, mobile payment users spend twice as much as those who don’t.

Therefore, what we’re spending money on – as well as how we’re spending it - has already been hugely affected by mobile banking.

Budgeting Apps

Very often, with the risk of overspending comes an increased demand for easy money-saving tactics. Unsurprisingly, banks have been quick to jump on this need by bringing out budgeting apps.

Although increased spending remains common among mobile bankers, these apps could help to provide a remedy. Because managing finances is a priority for most people, they have been quick to take off.

So, mobile banking hasn’t just influenced how we spend — it’s changing how we save, too.

All-Inclusive Banking

Banking apps make it more straightforward to exchange money and make purchases, therefore they are particularly valuable for people who struggle with traditional methods of money management.

For wheelchair users, visiting a local bank or an ATM can often be inconvenient. But thanks to these apps, financial affairs can be managed from home. The need to venture into town to take out cash or pay for goods is now a thing of the past — and this is transforming lives.

Likewise, this has revolutionised how people with specific learning differences monitor their money. Features like colour-coding are ideal for users with Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and ADHD, for example.

For people who live far from the town or city, driving to an area with a hole in the wall or bank is no longer necessary as banking can be done from home. Using this kind of app could even reduce your carbon emissions.

Mobile banking isn’t just benefitting its users — it’s helping the environment.

How we spend, save and manage our money has been completely transformed by mobile banking. No wonder its set to rise in popularity over the next four years. This is an exciting time for the financial world. How will it affect your finances?

Digital transactions do not end at simple purchases. Cryptocurrency, online betting, and sending cash via the internet have all become popular recently. With the amount of money changing hands online, it is no surprise that hackers see this as an opportunity for identity theft.

Privacy was once the only concern for web browsers, but financial data security has taken a place on the list of essential things to consider when roaming the internet. Digital shopping and online transactions are not going away, so it behooves everyone to learn ways to protect private information.

Seemingly becoming more challenging by the day, internet security is possible. Hackers regularly find new ways to attack their victims but practicing internet safety and putting safeguards in place will help keep your information out of the hands of a cyber-criminal.

1. Protect Your Privacy Using a VPN

The first thing any mobile device user should do is download a VPN app. While a VPN can be used on other devices like laptops or tablets, it is important to protect mobile devices, too.

People frequently connect to Wi-Fi in public places to conserve data costs, leaving themselves vulnerable. Hackers roam unsecured networks hoping to find an easy target. A VPN can create a more secure environment by encrypting data to and from your device.

2. Practice Internet Safety

Social media has created an environment ripe for malicious cyber-attacks. Facebook and Twitter alone often provide hackers with all the information they need to infiltrate the privacy of an individual.

Being safe online is more than avoiding “sketchy” web areas. Avoid putting too much personal information on social media sites and keep your profile restricted to those you know. Decline unknown friend requests and think twice about liking every post you come across.

Hackers prefer easy targets, and many users make themselves very vulnerable by providing so much information online. These details can give hackers tips to decoding your passwords or usernames, which opens you up to a world of digital trouble.

3. Pay Attention When Purchasing

Online transactions are here to stay, and it would be ridiculous to recommend someone avoid digital purchases. However, when buying online, you should pay attention to where you are shopping.

Small online businesses are popping up everywhere, and while they may offer unique and trendy items, it is important to validate their security. Never enter financial information on a site missing the “HTTPS” at the beginning of its URL. The “s” means secure and any site without it should be considered unworthy of your personal information.