About 80% of financial services organisations are considering using SMS as the primary medium for communicating sensitive information to customers and employees, a study has revealed.
With cyber security rising up the corporate agenda text messages are increasingly seen as the most secure option, with SMS the channel of choice for 25% of organisations when it comes to risk mitigation.
Conducted by the International Data Corporation (IDC) and OpenMarket the study – called Exploring the Impact of Mobile Messaging in the Financial Services Industry – surveyed IT, mobile and business technology decision-makers representing Global 2000 financial services organisations.
As the risk of breaches in a highly regulated industry such as the financial services is quite high, organizations continuously remain looking for any vulnerability in their communication channels to avert the occurrence of any untoward incident.
Apart from being secure and scalable, two-factor authentication is one of the critical capabilities provided by SMS’ which is driving its rapid adoption industry-wide. As much as 30% financial services organisations have been found in the research to be using SMS messaging for secure employee communication and to meet industry compliance requirements on notifications regarding high-risk, high-dollar transactions.
About nine in 10 (88%) security businesses have observed a positive impact from SMS messaging on their customer service, while 73% found it to be very effective in sending employee-focused emergency alerts.
The apparent benefits of mobile messaging are prompting businesses to invest in the specification, selection and deployment of SMS-based services designed that meet industry standards.
“These findings revealed that the financial services industry has one of the greatest demands for mobile messaging capabilities and that these businesses are taking a long-term, purpose-led approach to their mobile messaging investment,” said Marc DeCastro, research director of consumer banking at IDC Insights.
“Financial services organizations must look at vendors with a track record of secure encryption, outstanding support and managed services, and the flexibility to provision a variety of use cases in order to meet the specific mobile messaging needs of their internal and external stakeholders.”
The IDC study also found that:
- More than 50% of organizations rely on mobile messaging to differentiate or improve customer experience
- Almost 35% use the communication channel for attracting and retaining new customers
- The technology is helping more than 20% businesses in maintaining business continuity and also enhances the capacity of multichannel delivery.
- Only 15% businesses have realised the untapped potential of mobile messaging in improving their organisation’s security
“These findings show that financial services organizations are incorporating secure, effective mobile messaging into many aspects of their customer service and employee communications, as well as their internal business operations,” said Jay Emmet, general manager of OpenMarket.
“A well-designed, company-wide mobile messaging strategy that meets the industry’s high-compliance and regulated standards will allow businesses to enhance the customer experience, gain additional customer insights, improve employee relations, and drive operational efficiencies.”
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