All internet banking security seems to do is make it harder for me to access my own money...
I read recently that the Middle East is set for a new wave of cybercrime. I feel sorry for any cybercriminal who wants to hack into my internet bank account – I can barely access it myself. The process seems to involve cracking more passwords, codes and devices than a James Bond movie.
First, I have to dig out my ‘customer relationship number’ (which I have scribbled on a scrap of paper buried at the bottom of my handbag) and key in my identity as eight soulless digits while wondering why I can’t just give my name, or a clever user name if they fear duplication – something I wouldn’t have to dredge my handbag for.
Next, I’m asked for my password, which must be eight characters with at least two numbers, so my childhood pet or mother’s name – or anything that I might have a hope of remembering – is out of the question. Naturally, I end up resetting my password nearly every time I log in. If that wasn’t bad enough, they insist I change my password on a regular basis. So if I have managed to formulate a password that I actually remember, no sooner is it etched into my memory than it’s time to start the taxing process again.
Then I have to dive back into my handbag to find my ‘secure ID’, a little box which spews out random codes I need to access my money. The numbers change every sixty seconds, meaning I have to frantically key in the code before the countdown is up. The time constraint wouldn’t matter so much if I could type out the numbers on a keyboard. Instead, I have to navigate the bank’s ‘virtual’ keyboard, which the bank insists is more secure despite the fact that anyone looking over my shoulder will have a much better view of the numbers I’m clicking than they would if I was typing.
By the time I’ve clicked in the code, which takes twice as long as using a keyboard, the numbers have almost always changed forcing me back to square one. It’s as frustrating as fumbling for your keys only to find that the locks have been changed.
While I appreciate the investment that must go into shoring up defences against cybercrime, if they spent a fraction of that on usability and customer experience I wouldn’t have to feel like a computer hacker every time I try to access my account. If Apple can invent a device even a self-confessed technophobe like me can operate without an instruction manual, surely there is an easier way of doing secure internet banking?
What’s really depressing is that after I’ve finally cracked the security and accessed my account, the effort hardly seems worth it when I see the balance… I’m pretty sure that any cybercriminal would feel the same!
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