Once you're ready to begin making payments, transferring funds and conducting your day-to-day banking activities via your mobile phone, security still needs to be a top priority.

Mike Benardo, chief of cyber fraud and financial crimes for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., says mobile banking users should take the same security precautions they would when conducting online banking activities such as only visiting trusted websites.

And, you will want to use a trusted connection to get to those websites. "Be aware of the Wi-Fi networks that you use," Hoog says. Mobile devices connect to Wi-Fi networks the same way computers do, so a list of networks may pop up. Hoog says using unprotected public networks is dangerous.

Hoog says public wireless networks can provide an easy trap for online thieves. Using your mobile carrier's built-in network makes hacking much more challenging for data and identity thieves.

Your phone's size also can make you more susceptible to identity theft risks. Because of the limited screen space on a smartphone, verifying a website can be much more challenging.

Some online thieves are quite talented, and those emails that appear to be from your bank may actually be malicious. "Clicking on links from a mobile device can be pretty risky," Hoog says.