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Nordea’s in-house futurologist, Martin Ogarp, shares his vision of the future of online banking
Martin Ogarp specializes in strategic support and analysis at Nordea, but he
prefers to see himself as the bank’s ‘crystal ball’: it is his task to look into
the future and predict what customers will want.
“Customers have come to expect online access to their bank, and it has to be a highquality service,” he says. “Our philosophy, and the starting point of Nordea’s eBanking initiative, is that all interactions with the bank should be able to be carried out however the customer chooses.”
To this end, Nordea has deployed a whole suite of security solutions, all based on a security token supplied by Todos, a member of the Gemalto group. The token is combined with a smart card and customers can use it not just to log in to Nordea’s online banking service but also to make online tax declarations, report illness to the Försäkringskassan (social insurance agency) and make internet purchases via the 3D Secure solution.
Online banking has reduced the hassle of going into a branch, making it easy for consumers to carry out transactions such as bank transfers. Consumers do need to be sure that their money is safe, however.
“We have other, simpler solutions as well, but our aim is to channel everything into the high-security solution,” says Ogarp. “Most of our competitors are using the BankID certificate for eBanking over mobile phones, but we would prefer to avoid storing secrets in the mobile. The overall security of today’s mobile phones is very low. There is no protection or control of the software environment in a mobile, and even if we haven’t seen any significant virus attacks yet, it’s bound to occur.”
(This is very different when the application resides on the SIM card, which is a secure and trustable environment in which to run such services.)
“Mobiles simply aren’t mature enough, although the technology is rapidly evolving, and I’m sure we’ll have fully fledged security solutions in place soon. As proof of this, we’ve just launched our new iPhone app, enabling users to get an overview of their account, make payments and so on.”
Looking into his crystal ball, Ogarp predicts: “I’m sure that the mobile phone will be an acceptable payment instrument very shortly, although I believe the security solutions will be in place before the payment solutions. This is because the mobile phone can be used as a tool for two-factor authentication [a security system that combines something you have, such as a smart card, and something you know, such as a password], yielding a markedly increased security level.”
“The problem with the mobile has traditionally been that you can use it for a
lot of things,” concludes Ogarp. “We have to cut through the hype to give
customers exactly what they want.”
Extracted from our magazine supplement about Digital Sweden.
 “My
iPhone has changed my life. Nowadays, I book flights, do my banking and buy
tickets for the cinema without even needing a computer. I’m truly mobile for the
first time.”Klas Ahlin, 46, IT consultant, Hägersten |
|
A satisfied customer
|
Johanna
Wester, 26, from Stockholm, is a long-time Nordea customer. “The online
service that Nordea supplies is very sophisticated,” she says. “The
option to choose between an advanced and a simpler login is practical,
and I like that. “The eAuthentication could be a bit more user-friendly,
and it would be great if the internet-based record of your transactions
and purchases could be even longer, but apart from that I have no
complaints. I certainly save a lot of time banking online, rather than
having to go to the bank or wait in telephone queues.”