Cellulant, Entersekt partner to strengthen security on mobile banking platform

24 Nov 2020

Entersekt recently announced a partnership with Cellulant, an African financial technology company. The partnership will further enhance Cellulant's cybersecurity by proactively securing its digital banking channels and guarding against digital banking and payment frauds.

Celluant co-founder and group CEO Ken Njoroge with George Murage | image supplied

Banking fraud remains a real threat in Africa, as it is elsewhere. According to a recent Kaspersky survey, 47% of users in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa region faced banking fraud at least once in the first half of 2020. Banking app security in particular is a real challenge.

In February 2020, a group of researchers published a comprehensive study of 693 banking apps across 83 countries, including 49 apps from banks in Africa. “Banking apps belong to the most security-critical and data-sensitive app category,” the researchers emphasised. They found over 2,100 weaknesses in the apps tested. About a third of the apps (222) relied on invalid authentication implementations, while more than half (324 apps) displayed weaknesses in data transmission.

Entersekt is working with the Cellulant team to integrate its mobile software development kit with Cellulant’s product stack, making Entersekt’s authentication and app security solutions available to Cellulant’s clients. Two large Kenyan banking groups are already working on their deployment.

Words from Schalk Nolte and George Murage

Schalk Nolte, CEO of Entersekt, says: “We are delighted to be partnering with Cellulant. This collaboration will mean their partner banks’ end-customers can enjoy increased safety and security while transacting. We are very happy to support Cellulant’s cybersecurity efforts to drive consumer confidence in digital banking and boost the adoption of digital payments on the continent.”

George Murage, CTO of Cellulant, says: “Our clients trust us to not only be constantly innovating around digital banking and payments but also to guarantee safety and security. Being able to provide the powerful security and authentication services of Entersekt will significantly add to our platform offering."

"Through this partnership, we can deliver some of the most sophisticated services available anywhere in the world. We look forward to continuing our work with Entersekt as we help our clients take advantage of the many efficiencies afforded by digital banking,” concludes Murage.