Mobile payments in China have increasingly made cash obsolete, but the convenience of the new technology has raised growing security concerns. A China UnionPay survey of 105,000 people found that 60% had been exposed to some kind of mobile-payment security threat, including information leaks, fraud or malicious attacks.
QR codes — which are scanned using a mobile phone — have become the most popular payment technology in China, but fraud via this method is on the rise, the survey found. Nearly 30% of users reporting mobile-payment fraud said QR codes were involved, up from 15% last year.
For example, a common method of cheating users with QR codes involves using a fraudulent social media account, routing the scanned code to the thief’s payment account rather than to a retail establishment’s account.
Respondents reported risks were the highest during the opening of new accounts. To streamline the payment process, mobile platforms tend to use shortcuts — such as a mobile phone number — for user verification. But this can leave customers open to attacks, according to China UnionPay.
Older users were more vulnerable to fraud, the report found, with 59% of respondents above the age of 50 saying they had been cheated at least once. The investigation found that older people tend to be easily attracted to discounts, and may scan a given QR code more readily than younger users.
Women reported experiencing mobile-payment fraud 10% more often than men, but men reported a higher average financial loss.
Source: CaixinGlobal.com
Banking 4.0 – „how was the experience for you”
„So many people are coming here to Bucharest, people that I see and interact on linkedin and now I get the change to meet them in person. It was like being to the Football World Cup but this was the World Cup on linkedin in payments and open banking.”
Many more interesting quotes in the video below:
