UAE banks are digital ready

Banks in the UAE are increasingly adopting digital practices, according to the recent IDC report The Digital Ready Bank.

Understandably, automation of security is the most frequently deployed digital transformation initiative among banks in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Traditional methods of accessing online bank accounts are increasingly vulnerable to cybersecurity threats, so banks are looking to introduce safer alternatives. Banks that have introduced multi-step authentication, for example, have reduced fraud attempts by 90 percent, according to global cyber-security firm RSA.

Andrew Calthorpe, CEO of the UAE-based digital payment consultancy Condo Protego, commented: “UAE banks are on par with global leaders in deploying more secure multi-factor authentication, such as mobile apps and fobs that generate random numbers or questions.”

Condo Protego, which advises many of the UAE’s largest banks, is seeing strong demand for RSA SecurID solutions, including hardware and software “tokens”, risk measurement technology that tracts fraud indicators, and solutions that prevent phishing cyber-attacks.

And according to the recent AT Kearney report Banking in a Digital World, banks in the UAE are well-positioned for digital transformation, ranking second in the Middle East and Africa.

Calthorpe added: “Tech-savvy banking customers in the UAE are increasingly banking and purchasing both online and with mobile apps. To meet their safety and security needs, banks are using multi-factor authentication to simplify the customer experience, better measure transaction risk, and prevent cyber-attacks.”

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Read the October 2016 issue of Business Review Middle East magazine