Repeatedly waiting for OTP and then typing it while making online payments may soon be a thing of the past. We all know that cyber thugs often steal this OTP on the way and empty people’s bank accounts. But now the country’s leading private banks and telecom companies are making big preparations to keep your hard-earned money safe. They are eliminating the traditional OTP system via SMS and are introducing a new and invisible security technology called ‘Silent Authentication’. This change will not only make your transactions more secure than ever, but will also make the process of making digital payments much easier and faster.
How will payment be done without entering OTP?
Now the biggest question is that if OTP does not come on the phone, then how will the bank know that it is you who is making the payment? This is where silent authentication technology comes in handy. This is a background security check in which your bank and your telecom operator (like Jio, Airtel or Vi) share real-time information.
When you use a banking app from your phone, the network immediately checks whether the mobile number entered in the app matches the SIM card that is present in your device at that time. If any irregularity or manipulation is found, the transaction will be blocked immediately without asking you anything. According to Sameer Shetty, head of digital business of Axis Bank, the bank is working on many pilot projects for this technology in collaboration with telecom companies. With this new system, fraud can be detected silently without any human intervention. The best thing is that this technology will work perfectly on new age e-SIM also.
The game of SIM cloning and eSIM swapping is over
Nowadays fraudsters have become quite clever. They create a duplicate SIM by technically copying your phone number (SIM cloning) or swapping the e-SIM digitally without your knowledge. After this, your bank’s OTP goes on their phone and in the blink of an eye the account gets emptied.
Sundareshwar Krishnamurthy, partner, PwC India, says that earlier the layers of authentication were very weak, which hackers could easily penetrate. But now this entire verification process will shift to the network infrastructure (network backbone). This security cycle will remain completely hidden from the eyes of both the user and the hacker. As soon as the SIM and device do not match exactly, the network will not allow that transaction to proceed. Apart from this, telecom companies are now considering sending security codes through their own mobile apps instead of SMS, so that hackers cannot intercept them.
Banking will change due to new rules of RBI
To further strengthen digital payments, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has implemented the new rule of Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) from April 1. Under this, now only one password or OTP will not be enough for any transaction. Banks now have to use at least two different methods to confirm customers’ identities. Such as a PIN that you remember, a device that you have with you, or your biometric data (face or fingerprints).
To comply with this rule, banks are now starting the facility of ‘Face Authentication’ based on Aadhaar card infrastructure and generating OTP directly within the mobile banking app. Banks will now also analyze the location of your transactions, the status of your phone and your usage patterns (behavioral data). This new rule has also opened the doors for third-party apps like WhatsApp to send transactional messages securely in the future.
Your money will be closely guarded
Nitin Singhal, managing director of global cloud communications company Sinch, believes that this change will greatly benefit every section of the digital ecosystem. With the advent of silent authentication, our dependence on OTP will end.
This simply means that the problem of payment failure due to network failure or delayed SMS will no longer occur. Customers will enjoy a smooth and seamless checkout experience. At the same time, it will become easier for banks to prevent fraud and follow the strict rules of the Reserve Bank.