Banking is one of the oldest businesses to be around. It began right up in the 1400s with farmers requiring a loan. An industry that has been around for centuries is sure to have undergone a lot of changes. Every other person in this era is dependent on the workings of the digital Gods – the Internet. It is a no-brainer that things have changed in this industry too; for good or for bad is subjective. It depends on the way you see things.
A lot more positive changes have transpired than negative. It has made lives, of customers and bankers alike, easier. Customers get a more tailored banking experience with their access through the internet. They also don’t have to spend hours in queues, and the dreaded task of going through many officials to get even a tiny bit of work done is negated. With the option of internet banking, it was already easier and quicker for people to carry out various transactions. Later, with services like eWallets (e.g., Google wallet) it became easier to keep your debit cards, credit cards, gift cards, etc. in one place. This made it a hassle-free process a.k.a. One tap transactions. On the flip side, the negatives that come with any deal online like the threat to privacy is a considerably big flaw. Even if the positives outnumber their counterparts, the few that exist are very serious. In 2015, a US study showed that 10% of the 400 data breaches that happened occurred in the banking sector, however, keeping in mind that with financial transactions there is usually a risk involved which makes this sector much bigger target for attackers than any other.
As a result of the transformation of physical banking to the internet, the advancement of one tap transactions, the banking sector is also stepping up their stance on security. For making the portals securer, investments in the solutions have increased by introducing UPI, 2-step authentication, OTP, and many more. Over the years banks have been able to cope with social engineering better. This is done by making people aware as to not share their OTPs, personal details with anyone else. They also take insurances to protect and reimburse the customers in case of frauds.
With internet banking on the rise, banks have also started offering the option of mobile banking. Currently, the app interfaces of banks aren’t garnering as much popularity as the internet banking scene or the third party payment apps like Google pay, Paytm, PayPal, etc. With security, the betterment of the app usability is also of primary concern to the banking sector.
The advent of the internet has sure made banking experience more comfortable, faster, and much more pleasant for an average customer. It has also reduced a lot of paper usage, it saves time for both the parties involved, and the management has gotten better. The downside of that is, the current generation isn’t loyal to one bank because of lesser human interaction. They don’t feel any commitment, so they switch to better options which is a concern for the banking firms. With time it will be interesting to see what more technologies arise and how this branch of business fares when it comes to security.