Just a comment on this one, and a pet peev. It doesn't help when merchants register POS transactions from obscure head offices or with disconnected parent company names.
For example, paying £75 for petrol (yes, £75!) on the motorway somewhere up north, comes up as a transaction from a different company name down south. It makes it pretty difficult to recall what that transaction was and whether it is valid.
Cheque payments are worse - obviously they are just a cheque number and value, but at least they can be checked in the cheque book.
Online payments are the best, because they include my own entered reference text.
Direct debits are sometimes confusing too.
03 Sep 2010 12:53 Read comment
Why is biometric data really any different to a photoID, signature, name and address, DOB ? Its just a nother way of identifying who you are, but its a lot, lot harder to duplicate(forge) your bio credentials in the real world, compared to forging a signature, knowing your address or PIN etc. You cannot really change your photo/face, and certainly not your DOB.
Apart from insider fraud or core hacking, the other problem with any system is 'man in the middle' where measured identifing information is exchanged for 'stored' correct information. This applies to any type of ID system. That's why the measuring terminal has to have a cast-iron transaction wrapping solution to prevent tampering between there and the backend. (It just means that the 'middle' probably has to be between the measuring instrument (thumb reader) and the thumb).
I draw the line at exposing DNA credentials, but knowing your vein pattern, retina details, thumbprint, face geometry etc - so what?
03 Sep 2010 12:46 Read comment
Crazy. Banks are supposedly desperate to hold onto capital funds, so you'd think they'd pass this up a notch and do some checks prior to transferring a million.
Also, if transferred 'in error' or in suspected fraud cases, don't banks have the ability to recall the transfer. Presumably it was noticed pretty quickly. I know if money is erroneously transferred to my lowly account in error, it is soon recalled. And even if I have withdrawn it, the recall still happens and puts me in debt. And to withdraw the $1m from the receiving bank should attract a second set of checks. Taking just $5k out in the UK often requires photo ID and KYC. Something doesn't seem right here - the University Bank should have had better safeguards.
03 Sep 2010 11:43 Read comment
Whilst I don't always have cash on me, I am more and more avoiding Credit cards because of the charges that merchants and now adding to the bills. Its just the principle of the thing. Its like 'credit' payment isn't seen as real enough anymore.
31 Aug 2010 17:35 Read comment
hear hear. Political Correctness moved into H&S. In the end, its the law that is the ass, and lets the whingers and greedy get rich. It'd never happen in Australia.
25 Aug 2010 16:22 Read comment
There's a growing band of the public, including bankers, who think this is exactly in order. http://robinhoodtax.org.uk/
Frankly, I don't see that it would damage business, competition or recovery at all? But it would be a way for the industry to repay some of its morale and financial debt.
10 Aug 2010 16:42 Read comment
3DSecure and VbV work for me - because when I get those challenges I often give up and cancel out. It seems to ask to fill in all the same data I already provided for the Credit Card payment part, a second time and kills the consumer experience dead. Its yet another password to recall, and one which I don't use very often, so I hate to type in all my possible options guessing which one - who knows where that is cached. I won't use the same from one Bank to another and hence have many.
IMHO, they should use the same authentication as logging in to your online banking - 3 random characters to sign the transaction, end of story. That's a big (enough) combination and nothing new to remember.
09 Aug 2010 17:26 Read comment
Therein lies the danger of questionaires and surveys, combined with reporting of statistics. Its like asking a music fan if they like 'rock music' - its a leading question and the answer is going to be yes, regardless of how often they listen to rock.
Look and ask around you - who is genuinely using their mobile for banking operations? Weekly?
Don't get me wrong - I support m-banking and m-commerce, but lets get real with the numbers. A survey may be better than my gut feel, but I wouldn't model a service based on 30% adoption and 1 transaction a week.
06 Aug 2010 14:48 Read comment
Good inflation related (UK) link here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/7925564/Interest-rates-will-go-up-quicker-than-anyone-expects-ex-Bank-of-England-officials-warn.html
Having established higher margins above the current low interest rates, I think the banks can't wait to see interest rates rise. They'll continue to reap the same margin from borrowers as well as attract more savers/investments.
But it will kill the so called 'over-borrowed'. Loans which are serviceable now will rapidly become at risk with just a few points rise which could amount to a doubling or more of current low rates.
Surely 'inflation' is already being curbed by more 'responsible lending' and we shouldn't need the one-size-fits-all mallet of interests rates this time.
On the China inflation factor I have no clue.
06 Aug 2010 13:24 Read comment
On your 'demo' (your website) it did seem incredibly Noddy to get a replacement password, but the last time I made an online payment via Natwest you needed the secure Card Reader to enter challenge/response data before a Payee could be set up. I still don't like the idea of someone assuming my identity and accessing my account, but there are other safeguards too. I also get emails when things change.
But possession has always been 9/10s of the law, so when you need them to admit deficiencies its always going to be an uphill battle.
05 Aug 2010 16:47 Read comment
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