Title: Evolution of mobile payment systems and level of security awareness among mobile money users in Uganda

Authors: Job Matovu; Drake Patrick Mirembe; Odongo Steven Eyobu

Addresses: College of Computing and Information Sciences, Makerere University, Uganda ' College of Computing and Information Sciences, Makerere University, Uganda ' College of Computing and Information Sciences, Makerere University, Uganda

Abstract: This study investigates the evolution of mobile payment systems, desired security requirements and the level of security awareness and practices among mobile money users in Uganda. Through a mix-research approach for data collection and analysis methods, 465 participants responded to the study (460 mobile money users and five cyber security experts). The study revealed that: 1) about 45% of mobile money end customers share personal identification number (PIN) compared to 29% of the agents; 2) majority of mobile money users do not have formal training in cyber security thus lack necessary knowledge and skills to protect their information and transactions; 3) the level of education of mobile money users directly proportional to improved security practices and behaviours. The authentication protocol on withdraw transaction is very weak. The study proposes a role-based security enhancement framework for users of the mobile money system to mitigate these security concerns.

Keywords: mobile payment systems; transaction fabrication attacks; mobile security; Uganda.

DOI: 10.1504/IJITCC.2021.119112

International Journal of Information Technology, Communications and Convergence, 2021 Vol.4 No.1, pp.73 - 94

Received: 11 Jan 2021
Accepted: 06 Sep 2021
Published online: 22 Nov 2021 *

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