Mobile phones are becoming the single source of trusted digital identity verification.
Venmo is the most recent financial service provider to join this trend with their announcement today that the company is killing the browser version of venmo. All future payments must be done via native app for Android or iPhone.
I believe this move is due to disproportionate fraud losses from browser-based transactions. Most scaled fraud comes from computers, where it’s easy to fake browser sessions, location, and other information.
I expect:
- More institutions requiring smartphone app installs for financial transactions
- More requested permissions from apps to verify your identity (access to your phone information, camera, etc)
Venmo’s notice is below:
NOTICE: Venmo is phasing out some of the functionality on the Venmo.com website over the coming months. We are beginning to remove the ability to pay and charge someone on Venmo.com. Over time, you may see less functionality on our website. We’ve updated our to reflect that the use of Venmo on the Venmo.com website may be limited.