The Anonymous Widower

On Line Banking Security

When I was in Greece, I increased my overdraft limit by logging in to my account over the Internet from an Internet cafe. The procedure at Nationwide is simple and relies on memorising three numbers or codes.  One is ten digits long, but written down it looks like a US telephone number.  So it is stored in my trusty Nokia 6310i, as a phone number complete with the US country code. As I have about a hundred numbers in my phone and fifty are in the US, it would be pretty difficult to find it, especially as I’m lying and you don’t have the other code words. But it does mean, I don’t have to take an obvious machine with me to see how my bank account is doing. I hope they don’t change the system and insist on using the machine to login, as this would be a less secure system. After all, I usually keep my debit card hidden when I’m abroad and only take it out when I need cash from a cashpoint.

I access other systems all the time like American Express and Zopa, but in all these cases, the only thing I need to remember is several code words.  Nothing is ever written down.

The security system, I don’t like is that for the John Lewis Partnership Card. If you don’t login for sixty days, you need to ask for a new password and that comes in a secure package that I have  difficulty opening with my gammy left hand.

If I didn’t shop at Waitrose, I’d cut the card up.

Security though is not just about logging in, it’s about what information you can glean from your on-line statements. The Partnership card just gives minimal information, but Nationwide gives quite a bit more.   Zopa incidentally, is very comprehensive about what it tells you about each transaction. In my view you can never give too much information. How long before cashpoint machines take your picture, when you draw money out? I’ve always believed that you can upload a picture against your credit or bank card, so that if there was thought to be a problem, it could be checked. There are lots of possibilities.

And how about an alarm pin number? Suppose you are being forced to use a cashpoint, by someone with a knife! If you typed in the alarm number, the following would happen.

1. The cashpoint would appear to have accepted the correct pin.
2. A small amount of money say something like £20 would be dispensed with a message that said you were now overdrawn and that was your lot.
3. The card would be retained and of course blocked.
4. Nothing would be done to indicate the transaction was anything other than normal.

April 14, 2011 - Posted by AnonW | Finance | Banks, Credit Cards