Monzo Fights Financial Frauds
Monzo banking has introduced new security tools to protect its customers from financial fraud during rising mobile theft incidents.
The purpose behind these tools is to prevent phone theft, phishing scams and identity theft.
Locations Required for Safety
The first feature is ‘known locations’, a tool that enables users to define some of their locations, like their home or workplace. The use of these locations is to require users to do their transfers or withdraw an amount of money from these specified locations. In case the customer’s phone location is not in one of the determined locations, Monzo then uses the tracking technology to detect it and forbid any suspicious transactions from happening.
This means that the added layer of security provided by the tool will prevent the stealing of money even if the mobile phone is stolen, unless the theft happens within the approved location.
Friends and Family Will Protect You
The other feature allows the user to choose a friend that they trust or a family member who has a Monzo account to have access to the information and receive notifications before any transaction or withdrawal is done. This way, the person can review the transaction and decide whether it could be done or not.
In this regard, Priyesh Patel, a senior engineer at Monzo banking, stated that what the bank is trying to do is stay ahead of the criminals.
“Whether it’s choosing your safety radius with known locations or having a trusted contact sense-check your payments before you make them, these features offer customers peace of mind and force a much-needed moment of pause in a high-stakes situation,” he said.
Transaction Authentication
In addition to these features, the digital bank introduced a third one where it gives the customer the option to decide transaction authentication. To apply this, users will receive a QR that must be sent to another device, and then this code must be scanned through the Monzo app in order for the transaction to be completed.
On the other hand, information provided by the Metropolitan Police shows that around 90,000 mobile phones were stolen in London, which emphasized the importance of such advancements.
Final Thoughts
Indeed, adding further layers of security in various fields to protect users is nowadays highly important, mainly in the financial one. However, amid the major advancements happening in technology, to what extent do these security features succeed, given that hackers’ capabilities are sometimes going beyond such innovations, using AI to bypass many obstacles and achieve their targets?
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