Dialing up to do Business
Less than two years ago, South Korea began using what can be known as "mobile banking". This is were citizens can now use their cellphones to make banking transactions. Whenever a business owner or an individual wants to make a transaction, all they have to do is press a certain button on their cellphone, and it connects them directly to their bank account. Kang Chong Wong, CEO of Kookmin Bank, says that it is a great invention and it cost the bank a tenth of the price that it does to make face to face transactions, and saves the bank millions of dollars each year. The phones that are capable of using this new mobile banking are encrypted with a smart chip that stores all the information held in their bank account. Approximately 4oo,000 businesses in South Korea are now equipped to handle transactions with mobile banking, and that number could possibly hit 1 million by the end of 2005. Kang believes that in the future mobile banking could cover as much as 50 percent of households in South Korea. Information Technology Consultant for CNN, Simon Bureau, thinks that some Asian and Euopean countries will soon follow this new trend of futuristic banking. The question that concerns me is, how safe is this new style of banking going to be? If you have mobile banking on your cellphone and you lose your phone or if it gets stolen, what are the chances that anyone can access your bank account and make transaction that can cause dramatic financial problems? Bureau says that in order to use this type of banking, it has to be secure and easy to use, but do you really want all your bank account information and accessability stored into your cellphone?
9 Comments:
At 2:34 PM, Mighty2000 said…
I agree with the statement made by CNN technology consultant Simon Bureau that this may not be the safe thing to do. I know that personally i would not want all the important information about my banking account stored on my phone. That is a bit risky to me. I understand that they feel it is a way to make accessing your account quicker and more convenient for people especially if they are always on the "run." Plus the fact that it saves the banks money from having to deal face-to-face with each and every customer.As stated in the article, what happens if a person loses their phone? Whomever finds the phone has access to use it to their advantage. The chip installed in the phone is encrypted to keep hackers from being able to "tap" into the flow of the information being retrieved over the phone but does not protect you if you were to lose it altogether. This sounds like a very good idea seeing that it seems to have advantages for both the customer and the banks but they may need to think about this one a little more and come up with some more protection considerations before they promote this service for people to use. At least when you do over the phone banking or internet banking you only have to worry about people being able to find some way to hack into the system but at the same time not worrying about losing the computer or the phone completely.
At 11:20 PM, 7190 said…
Why is it that companies are trying to find ways to avoid seeing their customers in person? I realize that it is cheaper to not have to provide person-to-person customer service but I also feel that a when we lose this type of human contact that we cheat ourselves in the process. I would rather do certain types of my banking in person. I would not want to store all my banking information on a cell phone. I would not feel safe in doing so.
At 12:22 AM, Stalin said…
Well technology is the way the world is going, for a fact in Iceland cell phone banking startd almost a year ago. I think the world is rotating at a faster rate then it did 10 years ago. Everyone wants everything to happen at a very fast pace. When internet banking started in the day, people were very specticle of it to, don´t forget that. Without being sure, I am almost posative that to be able to access the account through their cell phone, people have to put in a password. When arriving in the States 2 years ago, I opened up a bank account. It amazed me how slow the banking system is over here. I almost felt I was going back 15 years. So to add some technology into the bank system would be a great thing.
At 7:02 PM, songbird said…
I agree with Simon also. I do not like that fact that my cell phone will have all of my account information stored in it. I would rather deal with a real, live teller at the bank rather than trust the technology of my cell phone. One question I have is what is the probability that the information in your account can be hacked? This is too scary for me.
At 11:25 AM, Rue said…
Such technology is impressive but I prefer to do my transactions the "old fashion" way, online. If need be, I can always go to the bank in person. I feel that for at least the next 30 to 40 years, there will be a considerable segment of the general population that prefers familiar methods of banking.
At 6:43 PM, Sean said…
I already carry cards in my pocket that contain some account information. I also bank online.
The cost of face-to-face transactions are becoming relatively more expensive, so firms are attempting to give customers similiar services at a lower price. If I prefer to talk face-to-face, I may end up paying an additional amount for that service.
At 6:48 PM, n scott said…
I kind of like the idea, it seems like it would save time, but like everyone else, I would be nervous about losing my phone and someone getting access to my bank account.
At 3:32 AM, starlet said…
I agree that this type of system is risky, but it is very convenient with the increasing use of technology. The producers of this system should find better ways to access these accounts via cellphone, such as with pin numbers. This would be safer than just touching a button for access, especially with the increasing crime rates in the world today.
At 7:58 PM, KVerble said…
I'm with the group of people that isn't sure about having all my bank account information stored on my cell phone...I think that it's way too risky with all the new ways that people are finding to steal information these days. And wouldn't something like telephone banking be about the same thing?? I know of several banks in the area that offer that, and I think it would be a safer alternative to having all that information stored on a phone.
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