Strong customer authentication is an essential component of security and compliance for financial institutions, especially within online banking. While many banks use hardware authentication devices for customer authentication, some have adopted mobile-only authentication. As the adoption of mobile authentication apps has grown, the question of whether banks should adopt mobile, or hardware authentication, often arises.

In this article we explain why hardware authentication devices should remain an important security component of online banking applications. We also provide recommendations about the type of hardware authentication devices that should be used to protect organizations against evolving cybersecurity threats, as well as help ensure compliance with new regulatory initiatives