How Secure is Your Payment Data? Not Very Secure It Seems!

Mobile payments are on the rise. Samsung and Apple have each introduced their own payment systems already some time ago and many new startups are entering the market as well, with of course Square being on top of the list. Consumers are also slowly getting used to mobile payments, be it with their smartphone or with their smart watch. In addition, large brands are also entering the mobile payment market. The best example is the Starbucks Card Mobile App, where Starbucks created an iPhone App that enables users to pay for their coffee. Although it is a closed loop system, it is a very convenient service for customers.

Next to these mobile payments systems, there are also various new payment opportunities. Across the world, new systems are being developed from the New Payments Platform (NPP) in Australia to the startup TransferWise, which claims to reduce the costs involved in transferring money abroad. All these new payment systems rely on big data and they work because they combine various data sources in smart ways.

All these new payment systems might be very convenient, the question remains whether they are also secure. After all, your mobile payment data consists of a lot of private data and you dont want this to be falling in the wrong hands. Unfortunately, it seems that over 50% of companies dealing with payment data have had their data breached, according to the below infographic which show the results of a survey, carried out by Gemalto, among 3,700 IT and IT Security practitioners worldwide.

To make matters worse, 55% of the companies surveyed have no idea where their payments data is stored, let alone that they know whether the data is secure! In addition, 54% of the companies dont put payment data security as a top five security priority. These figures are quite shocking if you know that payment data contains very personal data and when fallen in the wrong hands, could result in a lot of money being stolen.

Unfortunately, the future does not look too bright either. With the rise of new, mobile, payment systems the payment data security is not improving. According to the survey, 54% of the companies do not believe or are unsure if their existing security protocols are capable of supporting these new platforms. In addition, over 50% of the companies do not use any payment data encryption, leaving them extremely vulnerable to hackers if the data is breached.

Online and mobile payments systems have been on the rise for quite some time, but unless organizations get their payment data security in order, a lack of consumer trust can threaten the progress of mobile money.