If someone stole your phone, how quickly would they be able to steal your money?
It’s a scenario that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg says has become all too common: an unwitting person hands over their phone to someone who asks to use it for a moment and has their account drained. That’s to say nothing of the people whose phones are taken in violent robberies.
And while Bragg says his office prosecutes these cases, he wrote to companies such as Venmo, Zelle and Cash App earlier this week asking them to institute greater protections against theft.
“The ease with which offenders can collect five- and even six-figure windfalls in a matter of minutes is incentivizing a large number of individuals to commit these crimes, which are creating serious financial, and in some cases physical, harm to our residents,” he wrote.
PYMNTS has contacted Venmo, Zelle and Cash App for comment but has not yet received a reply. Bragg asks the companies to consider further measures to protect users, including the addition of a “second and separate password for accessing the app on a smartphone as a default security option.”
He also suggests imposing lower limits on the amount of total daily transfers, and requiring wait times and secondary verification of up to a day for large transactions.
The letter also mentions Apple’s recent roll-out of its stolen device protection feature, which blocks thieves from changing a device’s passcode. If someone tries changing the password when the device is away from a familiar location, they’ll need the user’s Face ID or Touch ID.
Better protection might make consumers more inclined to use payment apps, according to recent PYMNTS Intelligence research.
As reported here earlier this week, payment fraud incidents have been increasing, jumping 88% since December of 2021.
“Amid this surge in fraud incidents, consumer fears of data breaches and vulnerability to fraud are fostering reluctance towards apps aggregating and connecting payment information,” PYMNTS wrote. “This concern spans various demographics, including generation, education, income and financial lifestyle, as highlighted in the study.”
The research showed that 45% of consumers are worried about data breaches, while 34% feel more vulnerable to fraud. In addition, roughly 30% do not feel comfortable having their personal information stored on a connected platform, and 27% would rather manage their credential and payment information manually to reduce risks.
