Citigroup has warned its U.S. mobile banking customers that they must upgraded to a new iPhone app because the original version has a security flaw. The Wall Street Journal broke the news, reporting that Citi's old app accidentally saved personal account information in a hidden file on users' iPhones. This could have included security access codes or bill payments.
Citi assured customers it didn't believe that customers' personal information had been accessed by anyone. Nonetheless, the news highlights the security gaps that exist in mobile internet use - with vulnerabilities in the banking applications particularly dangerous given how much sensitive information they hold.
Mobile Banking Usage to Double by 2013
Despite the risks, consumers show little fear of mobile banking. The number of worldwide mobile phone users who uses these apps or otherwise access their accounts from their devices will double from 200 million this year to 400 million in 2013, according to a new white paper from Juniper Research. (via MarketingCharts). In "Mobile Banking Goes Mainstream," Juniper Research forecasts that slightly more than 200 million mobile phone users will have made use of their mobile device for banking information purposes by the end of 2010. By 2013, Juniper expects that number to hit 400 million.
