How could you say banking through a web browser on your phone is different than banking on your desktop? You're accessing a secure site on your phone, you're accessing a secure site on your desktop...the information is still encrypted end to end over an IP network.
I'd say that it could even be slightly safer on your phone as you're going through proxy servers.
I've done banking on my phone for years and I've never had a problem.
Bottom line is if it wasn't safe, the banks wouldn't make this option available for users. Yes, there are ways to make you phone act like a desktop browser, however, you'd see more banks implement code to not allow cell based browsers to access their site.
Why would Wells Fargo implement
www.wf.com if they thought one of their customers had ANY chance of being hacked? This is obviously a URL catered to a mobile browser.
It's nearly impossible for an end user to just start sniffing packets and I'd say it's even harder over a cellular network...sure you can try and intercept the cellular signals, but you'd still have to decrypt the data.
If banking on your phone is bad, why stop there??? Companies who deal with PHI or sensitive information that allow Exchange Activesync or some other means of secured E-Mail to a WinMo, Palm, iPhone, etc. should be thinking about not allowing their employees access via phone because of possibility of a hack.
I've NEVER felt compromised browsing any site, accessing E-Mail, e-commerce, etc. on my phone or desktop computer. When it comes down to it, the information is only going to be as secure as the end user allows it to be. Yes, banks and companies need to have policies and procedures in place to allow these types of secure connections, however, when I have a password as the name of my dog, you should just be slapped upside the head. I don't have any password that is any less than 10 characters with a great mix of uppercase, lowercase, numbers and symbols.
Just my $.02...and I don't share it too often
