Two-Factor Authentication support for Mea Service Portal

Two-Factor Authentication support for Mea Service Portal

MeaWallet has implemented Two-Factor Authentication for Mea Service Portal, which is fantastic news for both remote users of the portal and the person in your organization responsible for data security. In case you were wondering, here’s why this is important.

While the pandemic of the early 2020s threw many spanners into tons of works, it also pathed the way for remote working. The flexibility and convenience coming with working from home are a boon for most people and a bane for those responsible for the organization’s IT security.

The devices and networks at your office can be secured by the IT manager. If you’re working from home or, say, a café with an open network, using your personal laptop, it’s safe to assume that the security protocols can become laxer. Those weak points can turn into attack vectors for security breaches, which can have catastrophic consequences for the organization – especially for banks, where data integrity is critical to the customer’s trust and livelihood.

Here is where 2FA comes into the picture. 2FA requires the user to validate their identity as an additional step when logging in. 

Implementations come in a wide variety, from one-time codes sent via email to dedicated apps on mobile devices. MeaWallet chose a solution where the organization can freely pick from different providers (Google, Microsoft, etc.). Because these might already be familiar, in use, and don’t require additional devices or solutions, users will have a much easier time adopting this new security measure. 

2FA enablement will be required to access Mea Service Portal the next time you log in.


What to look for in a token management tool?

What to look for in a token management tool?

Tokenization has introduced a world of opportunities and new features to the payment industry. However, tokenization's rise in popularity comes with its own challenges. Tokens are created faster and more frequently than regular payment cards and thus lifecycle management is more important than ever. 

This change of pace can cause unexpected resource drains for businesses. Luckily, there are tools that can both help manage tokens and gather insight into how, and when they are used and created. 

We have outlined the most important criteria that we recommend you factor into your decision:

Efficiency

The lifecycle of tokens was designed to be more adaptable than that of physical cards. This advantage can also require more work and time spent on frustrating and unnecessarily complicated features – a pain point for your team! The tool needs to fulfill your internal and customer needs for the various use cases that are currently expected and potential future ones. The management system needs to be simple and simple to use and deliver real-time results. That's why a tool you expect your customer service team to frequently use needs to be simple, intuitive, and fast. 

Transparency 

New tools can introduce uncertainty. Having a good overview of the token-related data in your lifecycle management tool gives you the confidence to provide excellent customer support. Partially or completely, this information should be made available to your customers, so they can make choices based on facts and not assumptions. 

Analytics & reporting capabilities

Tokens are as new a concept for businesses as they are for customers. This brings up a host of questions a good analytics tool needs to be able to handle and provide management for. For example:

  • "What is our most popular token-related service and why?"
  • "How many tokens do our cardholders have and how?
  • “What are cardholders using their tokens for, when, and where?"

Simplicity

Tokens generate notoriously large amounts of data. Realistically, not every business can or wants to deal with complex, data-intensive products. An outstanding portal abstracts data complexity for you, providing clear insight, and the ability to drill deeper with the help of filters. 

With these propositions in mind, we created the Mea Service Portal – your one-stop shop to meet your customers' needs. You can customize Mea Service Portal to fit your needs, manage users, and access lifecycle management and reporting services. If you would like to have a look at the different functions in detail, please have a look at our dev portal.

Naturally, we're constantly improving Mea Service Portal, so if you want to keep track of what's hot in the world of tokenization management tools, subscribe to our blog, bookmark our roadmap, and keep an eye on our website!


Digital Debit and Credit Cards and why they’re a big deal

Digital Debit and Credit Cards and why they’re a big deal

When it comes to functionality, the mobile phone is the undisputed, modern-day Swiss army knife of personal appliances. Contrary to the latter, everyone and their dog carry one in their pocket.

While the mobile phone can't be used to sharpen sticks for grilling sausages to open bottles (at least, we wouldn't recommend it), its applications when it comes to mobile consumer banking cover more and more miles. 

Today, we'll look at the simple convenience of retrieving your debit and/or credit card information. Fetch your physical card from your wallet, and you will be greeted with, amongst other things, your card’s PAN, expiry date, and CVV code – everything you need to complete a payment on an e-commerce site, subscribe to a streaming service, etc. 

Nowadays, this process, like many others, has been digitized. Imagine that, instead of pulling out your wallet, you pull out your phone, and instead of looking for the correct card, you push a button from within your banking app to display the card data on your screen.

Sounds like same-same? Let's have a look at the advantages digital debit and credit cards offer over physical cards for card users, program managers, and card issuers.

Digital cards are more convenient

Cardholders do not have to carry around a physical card, which can be inconvenient and easily forgotten at home (you rarely forget your phone). In addition, if a cardholder misplaces their physical card, they may have to cancel the card and get a new one, which can be a hassle. With a digital card, the cardholder can simply access their account online.

Digital cards are more secure

If a physical card is lost or stolen, its data could be used by the thief to go shopping online or do other fraudulent activities.  Digital cards are usually protected by several layers of authentication (e.g., the password/biometric requirements of you and your banking app) making it a tough nut to crack.

Digital cards can save money

Issuers can save money on the production of physical cards, as well as on shipping and handling, and customer service support for physical cards.

Digital cards add value to a banking app

Additional functionality increases engagement with the banking app and builds customer loyalty through a positive user experience.

Digital cards can help protect the environment

The production of physical cards requires energy and resources. In addition, the cards themselves are traditionally made of non-biodegradable plastic. Digital cards do not have the same environmental impact.

Are there any disadvantages to digital cards? Well, if you are so used to the convenience of not having to carry around your physical wallet, then losing your phone or having it stolen just got even more aggravating. Also, not all payment terminals currently support contactless for all schemes, so having a plastic card as a backup stashed somewhere can serve as insurance.

If, after hearing this, you would like to implement your own digital card solution, we can hardly blame you. In fact, we can add some more benefits and help you on this journey.

Mea Card Data allows consumers to see all their card details through your issuer or banking app. One of the significant advantages of Mea Card Data is that it is PCI-DSS-compliant, which means that you don't have to be compliant yourself. This means that even if you don't have the means to issue a physical card (or choose not to), you can still provide your customers with a digital card. 

Mea Card Data comes to you in the shape of an SDK that supports Android, iOS, and Web Widgets, and can be implemented and start running on your customer's phones within just one day!

Oh, and did we mention that you can fully customize the way you display card data? 

If this is interesting to you, why not get in touch with us and let us make digital cards happen together!