With the immersion of cyber attacks wreaking havoc on the world, especially in the US lately, (The U.S. personnel chief just resigned after a data breach, causing personal information of employees and family members to be disclosed) are mobile wallets or the future of online banking truly safe?
Mobile Internet Usage Growing
I’m not a techie, but try to keep abreast of the varying technologies, particularly as it relates to Jamaica’s advancements. According to the Statistical Institute of Jamaica Population Census (published in 2011) and the World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015, 75.50% of Jamaica’s population have a mobile phone but have never used mobile internet. However, 14% of those people are accessing the internet using their mobile phone and this is increasing as more wi-fi hotspots become available and people are catching on to the convenience of it.
Once they start to come to depend on their mobile as we know many of us have, it may be safe to say that mobile wallet will be more convenient for most than even internet banking. With varying threats on our cyber security in Jamaica (a few weeks ago JIS and some other government agencies were hacked) how can we know for sure mobile wallet will be considered safe?
Right now the latest mobile wallet on the market is Connec, which allows you to pay for bills, send money to other people, even top up your phone! No bank account needed. However, with 8.4% of Jamaica’s population using internet banking, what motive would a Jamaican have to use the services of a mobile wallet?
Majority of Jamaicans still Trust Traditional Banking Methods over Internet Banking
As much as Jamaicans will say that they don’t trust that our banking services have the safety measures required to prevent hacking, and still prefer the old methodology of going to the bank and standing in the line to do their banking, some would argue, that’s really not a bad thing after all.
From the desk of the storyteller 
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