Fintech company Entersekt is helping to drive mobile banking forward with safe and secure transactions.

The company specialises in push-based authentication and app security and works closely with global banks to harness the power of digital certificate technology with the convenience of mobile phones to provide businesses within the financial services sector and their customers with full protection from online fraud.

Specialist Banking conducted an exclusive interview with Schalk Nolte, CEO of Entersekt (pictured above), who gave an insight into the evolving digital banking sector.

What banks are currently using Entersekt technology?

“We have large deployments in Africa, western Europe and the United States.

“All our customers require us to sign an NDA [non-disclosure agreement], so unfortunately we can only name a few that are in the public domain.

“We are proud to call Coutts, FirstBank of Colorado, Investec, PLUSCARD and Swisscard customers.

“Most of the large banks and insurers in South Africa are also clients, including Nedbank, Capitec Bank, Absa, Old Mutual and Discovery.”

What is the main use for Entersekt technology?

“Any organisation that offers a digital service can benefit from our technology.

“Our key focus is the financial services industry, where security is of paramount importance, but we also offer authentication solutions for insurance and healthcare providers, and even governments.

“We create a trusted communication channel between an organisation and its users that cannot be penetrated by malware, man-in-the-middle attacks or any of the prevalent attack vectors.”

What do banks need to be doing to prepare for PSD2 banking regulations and how can Entersekt technology help this?

“One of the requirements at the heart of PSD2 is strong customer authentication or SCA.

“PSD2 has very strict requirements for what qualifies as SCA, so banks will need to choose a security partner whose technology meets these very stringent standards.

“These requirements will also evolve, as there are revision cycles built into the regulation.

“In addition, countries within the EU can implement different variants of the regulation.

“At Entersekt, we make it our business to stay up to the minute with international regulations, so our clients stay ahead of the curve and can focus on new features instead of being distracted by constant compliance projects.

“This we believe will be crucial for PSD2 success.

“Of course, banks must also look at PSD2's impact on their customers.

“Exposing an API to third parties means that there will be multiple new sources from which transactions are initiated – legitimate and fraudulent ones.

“With the number of interactions likely to rise rapidly, providing a low-friction user authentication experience will be a key consideration.

“This is where Entersekt's technology can be a secret weapon for our customers.

“Our technology provides industry-leading, state-of-the-art security, while delivering a great user experience.

How do you think Entersekt technology will change the banking sector?

“The way that digital banking users access their accounts and do transactions is already changing, and for the better.

“Identity security is becoming a much higher priority, and the user is being given greater power in terms of explicit consent to transactions.

“Two-factor authentication (2FA, the same as SCA above) is starting to be a regulatory requirement for banks everywhere, and insecure methods such as mTANs (also called SMS OTPs) are being deprecated.

“What is replacing them is push authentication – like our patented Transakt product – which Gartner [technology research business] predicts will make up 80% of the authentication market by 2020.

“The outcome will be that banking users are safer, so they transact more and make use of more digital services, which in turn means greater revenue for banks, along with happier customers.

“Everybody wins.”