Telewest Broadband has become the latest UK ISP to offer online account aggregation to customers, in an initiative pitched at preventing PIN and password overload among Web savvy surfers.
Blueyonder My Accounts enables consumers to view and access all their Internet accounts – whether bank accounts, credit cards, savings, e-mail accounts and e-bills – on one Web page. They can also instantly compare the users’ financial accounts with the most competitive providers in the market.
Chad Raube, director of internet at Telewest Broadband, says research conducted among 1000 adults by NOP ahead of the launch shows that consumers must remember an average of four different sets of ID passwords and PIN numbers in order to manage their e-mail, reward and financial affairs online.
"Our research has shown that the average internet user now has four or more separate usernames and passwords, with 11% having to juggle eleven or more," he says. "Blueyonder My Accounts will liberate surfers of memory meltdown by giving them one single username and password to log onto all of their online accounts."
The technology behind the service is supplied by moneysupermarket.com and is already in use at Yahoo! UK and Ireland, Lycos UK, and personal finance sites thisismoney and moneytelegraph. The company says the service operates to the same security standards as equivalent banking packages.