Staff Reporter
Windhoek
“Numerous types of fraud have recently increased again in our country and we wish to ensure our customers that FNB is at the forefront of security measures when it comes to online and cellphone banking”, says Holger Bossow, FNB IT Risk Manager. “Did you know, for example, that FNB Namibia online banking will restrict your transactions and reduce your limits when it detects a login on a non-trusted PC or unverified source? This is but one of the safety measures to protect our online banking customers,” says Holger.
He added that security features to protect online banking customers were constantly improving over time, based on real world feedback and explains: “Behaviour tracking system (BTS) is not new at the bank, but is improved consistently and thus aims to determine if the customer is who they say they are. If BTS determines the customer is potentially a fraudster, there are several processes which are invoked to protect the legitimate customer e.g. lowered limits, hidden functionality for high risk features etc.
When asked about the necessity of BTS, Holger advised that the USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) had an inherent username, which is supplied by the network operator back to FNB. This means that the customers handset needs to be stolen along with somehow understanding what the customers MOPIN is. The App works in a similar fashion.
Once linked, only the linked device can be used in conjunction with the password. Thus, the customer handset must be stolen, along with the password. With online banking, the difference is a customer (or potential fraudster) can log in from any pc / browser with an internet connection. This creates a gap in security, as phished login details can result in access being granted anywhere in the world.”
FNB Namibia also has the Smart inContact as an additional safety feature for customers who operate on online banking. This includes the Push Notification sent to the online mobile app which needs to be authorized before a transaction takes place. Holger said customers should always keep the following in mind: “Your bank will never call / email you requesting login information, card information or MOPINs. Always type the FNB URL into the URL bar and never click on links that claim to direct you to banking.”