Consumer Rights Need To Catch Up
Every time I personally go to my bank, I am urged to use their on-line banking system. I always politely decline. I'm not a philistine when it comes to using the Internet. I have no problem using my credit card to order from Amazon, or using PayPal to pay for some other things. With the exception that I also refuse to sign up for the "Verified by Visa" program. With my credit card, my liability is limited if there is fraudulent use. With on-line banking, the banks shove the risk of fraud onto the consumers. They claim that their multi-factor authentication systems are fool-proof. Therefore, if your account is emptied, it can only be because you didn't properly keep your password, or one-time use sheet, or whatever safe. It is up to you to prove that you weren't at fault, that the on-line banking system has a security flaw, and that is effectively impossible. I know that the chances are small that with a multi-factor authentication system my bank account could be plundered. But the chances are not zero. I won't let the bank simply wash its hands of any responsibility, so until I get the same level of consumer protection that I do with a credit card, I won't use on-line banking.
If I do decide to ever use it, I can see how a mobile application would be at the same time very convenient, and -- being a new technology -- have new attack vectors, so I'd probably stick to using a dedicated computer.