According to MAS guidelines, local banks must adopt two-factor authentication for Internet and mobile banking, and OCBC claims to be the first bank in Singapore to allow a mobile phone to be used as a token for two-factor authentication.
Says Cheong: "We just rolled out two-factor authentication for the mobile. We use the mobile phone as a security token to generate an additional one-time key so that a user can log into either the Internet or mobile banking sites. So that enhances the level of security because on top of the personal identification number (PIN) you know, the phone also has to generate a random PIN."
OCBC currently offers three flavors of two-factor authentication for its customers--hardware, SMS or mobile phone as a token. Chia, however, personally favors the latter for a token.
"[With a phone,] you don't have to carry an extra hardware token," he argues. "Security-wise, if you lose your hardware token, you won't know till later. But if you lose your phone, you'll know almost immediately because you're more attached to your phone."
What's coming nextAlthough the mobile phone banking service's soft -launch was six months ago, for OCBC, the battle for the hearts and minds of customers has only begun.
As the company plans to promote the service to its 300,000 account holders in Singapore, the challenge, according to Chia, will not be technological but rather the human element, trying to persuade customers to adopt mobile phones for banking. This will require the dispelling of a few industry myths.
"When banks first started using ATM machines, people were afraid whether the machine would eat up their money," said Chia. "And when Internet banking came along, people where questioning the platform's security--was it safe to perform transactions?"
Nicholas Cheong, vice president of delivery--consumer financial services at OCBC, believes the time is right for mobile banking to succeed.
"The stars are aligning for us," said the senior executive, sharing a bit of corporate insight. "New technology used to take decades for adoption. [But] the general trend now is that it takes consumer technology shorter time to reach critical mass."
He also noted that, in Singapore's context, the average consumer is becoming more receptive to the idea of performing high-risk activities like banking using their mobiles.
"We noticed that consumers were becoming fairly comfortable using a mobile phone to do different things, whether it's downloading ring tones or screen savers. [Based on our customers' transaction history], usage ranges from transferring $10 lunch money to a friend, to sending $10,000 for purchasing shares. It shows that people are receptive and comfortable to the notion of banking on mobile phones."
Other issues are more ancillary in nature, like those of hardware compatibility. Although OCBC's Web site lists support for more than 50 locally-approved handsets, one notable absentee is RIM's popular Blackberry messaging device.
As the person responsible for quality of service (QOS), Chia is making it his personal crusade to ensure OCBC's mobile banking service is usable on as many mobile phone models as possible.
"[At this stage,] there's a little bit of teething problems with certain phone models," he admits. "But I can say our systems will work with models that were introduced a year and a half ago. We test with as many phones that make it to local shores, with the exception of some parallel import models."
To highlight OCBC's commitment to its new service, Chia adds that the mobile banking team will continue to work closely with the major handset makers and go one step further by testing with prototype models before there are launched.
"That kind of collaboration can benefit both parties," enthuses the OCBC executive. "Rather than being reactive, we are being pro-active in ironing out compatibility issues during the prototype stage."
Play video
There are currently no comments for this post.