Regulating electronic banking: current issues
Subject The article considers the banking system of the Russian Federation and emphasizes the urgent issue of electronic banking regulation. Objectives The study aims at identifying the most important areas of banking regulation in electronic banking. Results The basis of e-banking is Internet banking (management of bank accounts and bank cards through the Internet and web-browser in on-line mode) and mobile banking (management of bank accounts and bank cards from laptops, PDAs, smartphones and other similar devices). However, apart from obvious advantages, e-banking brought additional risks into banking. To be more precise, the amount of bank risks remained the same, but their technical component has increased significantly. The risk level was impacted by the extension of the operational risk profile; a significant increase in the number of cybercrimes in the financial sector; the use of electronic banking systems in the schemes aimed at money laundering; lack of commercial bank employee training in information security management and associated risks inherent in electronic banking. We have analyzed each of the four causes of additional sources of risk and emphasized the most urgent tasks for regulators and credit institutions to minimize the risks arising in electronic banking. Conclusions The latest achievements in information and communication technologies on the basis of the global Internet and mobile communication capabilities have created ideal conditions for introducing the electronic banking technology, however, it is subject to proper regulation.