Two-Factor Authentication in Finance Apps: What Works Now and What Examiners Expect

Two-factor authentication in finance apps works best when the second factor is something a phisher cannot simply ask for and receive. An authenticator app, a hardware security key or a passkey meets that standard; a text-message code does not, because it can be intercepted through SIM-swap fraud. The practical hierarchy, from weakest to strongest, runs SMS, authenticator app, security key, with passkeys now emerging as the password-replacing option major platforms are rolling out. For compliance and legal-ops teams, the distinction is not academic. Authentication method shapes phishing exposure, incident narratives and the controls examiners and insurers ask about. A finance app that offers only SMS codes is carrying a known weakness into every customer session, and the record of that choice is written into its vendor and control documentation. We covered a connected angle in App-Store Review Guidelines for Regulated Finance Features: Compliance When the Platform Is a Regulator Too.

This excerpt comes from the named source. Read the original for the full reporting.