15 Aug 2022
Out of 281 million global diasporas, more than 169 million were overseas workers residing in foreign lands, according to 2021 stats. International remittances reaching $597 billion annually show that these expatriates support their families by sending money back home from abroad. Multiple reasons have always pushed people out of their countries of origin, like financial hardships, poverty, unemployment, inflation, etc. The security of fund transfers remains one of the most critical concerns for global expat workers.
Where matters involving money had their own risks in the past, the present is not without perils. Technology has advanced to the point where it primarily offers convenience. But, this convenience comes at a cost. This cost is the risk to your online transactions in the form of online scams and threats to online financial technologies known as FinTech.
Let’s see what FinTech is and why robust security is essential for it.
FinTech is a technology that most companies, individuals, and businesses use to facilitate their financial matters at collective and individual levels. FinTech operates based on specialised software and algorithms.
FinTech has gained immense popularity in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic as people necessarily used FinTech to move their funds while maintaining social distance. It also helped people manage their finances better without going to the banks and other financial institutions.
The importance of FinTech is clearly understood in the following areas.
As mentioned at the start, financial matters involved physical risks in the past, whereas these risks have transformed into virtual risks while remaining more or less the same at the core. Therefore, where physical security was essential to ward off physical dangers, virtual security has become equally crucial to avoid virtual risks. Let’s study the details.
It is a set of measures designed to keep online matters safe and secure. Cyber security is not only confined to securing online issues involving money. This security is of utmost importance in every virtual move that you make.
In FinTech, Cyber security is paramount, as online money scams and thefts continue to increase. Here, you will learn techniques to save yourself from falling prey to online money transfer scams.
Let’s now take a look at the different types of FinTech applications.
Following are the essential FinTech apps you need to know about.
A few credible online money transfer companies, including ACE Money Transfer, offer an advanced way of sending and receiving money instantly using a mobile app. Using a mobile app for international transactions saves you from the hassles of visiting physical bank branches, service provider offices, or other physical locations. You can manage your monetary needs with finger-taps on your mobile screen in the middle of your comfort zone and on the go.
These apps connect the lender and the borrower directly to ease and facilitate the process of acquiring loans. Digitised solutions help you complete the required procedures online using your smartphone and get your loans to fulfil various needs.
These apps enable users to better manage their accounts and finances without physically visiting the concerned branches. The smartphone apps help you send and receive money, pay bills, send mobile top-ups and do much more.
The users of these apps can assess risks digitally involved in insurance. These apps let the user manage various requirements using their smartphone, saving time, energy, and hassles of visiting insurance offices.
These apps aim to ensure that people with limited resources also have a fair idea about the investment opportunities and ideas for them. Many people, especially overseas workers, are often interested in different investment opportunities to ensure future security for their families. If you send money online to your family from abroad using a smartphone app, you can easily use an investment app without any trouble.
These apps serve as a middleman between credit card companies and sellers. These apps facilitate transactions on behalf of a company.
These apps help users keep a closer look at their finances and track every penny they expense out. This ensures better management of the finances.
Let’s see how you can secure your FinTech application.
Here are a few steps you must take to secure a FinTech app.
Ensure the team tasked with developing FinTech consists of well-versed specialists knowing all about the security regulations and the technical means to ensure compliance.
At the software development stage, you must ensure that the storage of data, what type of data it should store, storage point, and access to its different features are clearly defined.
It is vital to guard against app cloning. Scammers can create almost the same FinTech app as the real one through cloning. It can lead scammers to have access to the data. Code obfuscation can help companies save their finTech from cloning.
You log into your FinTech app by giving your name and password. It must be ensured that this process is strong enough to prove you are what you really are.
Do not act in a haphazard manner. Record everything that you do on your FinTech app.
FinTech apps must auto-encrypt every bit of the sensitive data that is given to them. End-to-end data encryption never allows any malicious attempt from hackers and scammers, thus providing ultimate peace of mind to the users.
Now, let’s see a few critical security measures you must take as an individual.
Following are the few critical security measures you must take for data security on your FinTech app.
It is the first step to securing your app. Use different sets of capital and small case letters with numerics, etc. Make sure the passwords you use are unique.
Building a firewall will protect your network in its entirety. Firewalls are a must-have for enhanced security.
Antiviruses are better for online security but must be credible and reliable. An active antivirus program will detect errors or malicious attempts and defend your mobile phone, laptop, or PC. Using online tools for your monetary needs requires a robust antivirus program that can guard your system in real-time.
Keep your devices, including phones and computers, updated. Updated software and firmware ensure unbreakable security and protect your data against malicious activities.
Be mindful of where you put your laptop as they are handy, and you are likely to forget them. Therefore, make sure you keep their whereabouts in mind.
Mobile phones are even smaller in size and can be stolen way too quickly. Therefore, be mindful of where you keep them, mainly when you are out.
Keep your data and backup in external sources like external hard drives or the cloud. If you have backed up your data and information, you can access it any time in the case of data loss due to an unexpected hacking or scamming attempt.
The online world is fast. It is admissible that you keep an eye on and keep track of your online moves in a steady manner.
Certain websites are unsafe. A security warning appears on your screen when you click the links. Take these warnings seriously and surf securely.
Expatriates worldwide have been using FinTech to send their remittances across borders through the best international money transfer services like ACE Money Transfer.
The companies like ACE Money Transfer keep giving tips to their valued customers about staying safe from online hacking and attacks on ACE Money Transfer’s international money transfer app.
Human vigilance, consciousness, and alertness lay at the heart of saving yourself and your application from Cyber-attacks and hacking.
With the rapid advancement in science and technology, the future of the FinTech industry is full of newer and innovative ideas. But, all the ideas will mainly revolve around how FinTech operates today.
The primary focus of the future of the FinTech industry will be on the safety and security of online monetary transactions and matters.
ACE Money Transfer is one of the leading FinTech service providers to offer security and convenience. You can make an instant and secure global money transfer right in the middle of your comfort zone at any time using ACE Money Transfer’s mobile app or website. The company ensures the best exchange rates, the lowest transfer fees, and an unbreakable security mechanism for its worldwide customers.
