Secure authentication tool for mobile and online banking

Now online and mobile banking users are passing on the usage of mobile digital signatures. Mobile authentication is stated to have taken hold in many countries, and mobile signatures are a "logical extension".

"Nearly all of the banks and operators we spoke to said that the technology operates flawlessly and that the experiences of customers who use the system are very good," says Bill Nagel, Forrester Research analyst.

Any cellphone turns into an identity card and signature pen for online and mobile services due to mobile signatures.

A phone user chooses a password or assigns a PIN, then the Sim card generates a digital signature. The signature is sent in an encrypted SMS, and as for the password, it remains inside the secure Sim and is not exposed over any network.

Besides, mobile signatures are said to provide a large scale of other value-added consumer and business services.

"All of these are based on the concept that a mobile phone and Sim card are the smartcard and reader you always have with you," states Nagel.