Journal of Information Technology & Software Engineering
Open Access

Abstract

A Proposed Approach to Enhance User PIN in the Mobile Money Ecosystem

Afful Ekow Kelly* and Sellappan Palaniappan

The use of only numeric numbers as the base for the USSD PIN rather than alphanumeric was one of the security risks in the USSD mobile money services. The use of only a numeric key for PIN was far more convenient for users, but it also made them more vulnerable to attacks. The standard PIN length in the current USSD mobile money application was four numeric keys. The indication was that the PIN length was too simple for a simple system to break through. The study included 57 participants to uncover the vulnerability of users' PINs in mobile money services. The study proposes a two-in-one solution in which mobile money users can increase their PIN to six characters, and include alphanumeric keys. The current study will help to reduce the increasing threat of mobile money fraud in the FinTech industry.

Published Date: 2023-05-17; Received Date: 2022-10-08