European Cybercrime

The European Commission recently released a special Eurobarometer report on Cyber Security. 26,700 people across all EU member states have reported their internet use, concerns and measures against cybercrime, including for online banking and buying goods and services online.

Around half of the internet users in the EU say they buy goods or services online (53%), use social networking sites (52%), or do online banking (48%). There is considerable variation in the online activities that respondents undertake in different countries.When using the internet for online banking or shopping, the two most common concerns are about someone taking or misusing personal data and security of online payments.

12% of internet users across the EU have experienced online fraud, and 8% have experienced identity theft. The majority of internet users in the EU (61%) are concerned about experiencing identity theft.

Internet users have changed their behavior in a number of ways because of security concerns. 37% say that they are less likely to give personal information on websites, while 43% do not open emails from people they don’t know. 51% have installed anti-virus software. However, more than half (53%) of internet users in the EU have not changed any of their online passwords during the past year.

24% of internet users access the internet through a smartphone, but most use a desktop computer (63%) or a laptop computer or netbook (61%), and 6% use a tablet computer or touchscreen.

Respondents in Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands are more likely to be frequent internet users (83% accessing the internet at least once a day), to use the internet for buying things (80%, 78% and 76% respectively) or for online banking (87%, 87% and 84%). In these countries, respondents are also less likely to be concerned about being the victim of cybercrime.

Food for thought.

Mobile and online what?

MACAW is often asked about our opinions on online banking, mobile banking, mobile payments and digital wallets. Some people even use this industry jargon interchangeably to much confusion. So we always ask what people mean by these terms, and if they don’t know what to answer, we ask more specific questions. More often than not, people struggle to define what they are actually asking about. Maybe not so strange given the complexity of current day payments, so why not clean up the terminology a bit to reflect how the world is changing?

For example, is accessing your online banking facility through a mobile web browser defined as mobile or online banking (or both?). What if you substitute a mobile with another device such as an iPad? Is the term mobile payments reserved for non-bank payments conducted via mobile; what about remote vs. proximity payments; or whether or not the transaction involves a card account? See – it quickly gets complicated. Hence there is a need to define a common industry terminology, and that’s our goal. Let's begin with online banking and mobile banking.

The term online banking certainly made sense when it was introduced, and the browser on the computer was the only mode of access to the internet banking facility. But you can also access the online banking facility with a web browser on a mobile or other device. Is that mobile banking? Not in our book. A browser is a channel or mode of access irrespective of device. Redefining online banking as 'browser banking' is historically and technically accurate. Why retain an old world term when we can use the more precise term ‘browser banking’ which leaves less confusion?

Similarly we suggest replacing or supplementing the term mobile banking, which two device specific channels, SMS and Apps, are no longer reserved for mobile phones. These modes of access are available via other devices such as an iPad. Thus MACAW would suggest a channel-based rather than device-oriented terminology. We can substitute the term mobile banking with ‘SMS banking’ and ‘App banking’ to help clear up the confusion.

So let's abandon online and mobile banking in favor of browser, SMS and App-based banking. A channel/access mode approach removes some confusion and is device neutral.