Only HSBC will follow Alliance & Leicester this year
in rolling out two-factor authentication to strengthen its
security.
Abbey, Barclays, Co-op Bank, HBOS and Royal Bank of Scotland
have confirmed that they have no immediate plans to offer
two-factor authentication to customers, having weighed up the
potential benefits against the cost and complexity of any such
deployment.
Analysts said the banks' caution was understandable,
particularly because card readers based on a standard agreed in
January by the Association for Payment Clearing Services are now
being developed.
Martha Bennett, research director at Forrester Research, said,
"It makes sense that the banks take a tactical approach. In most
cases, that means strengthening anti-fraud in the background,
rather than imposing further on the customer."
Bennett said transaction monitoring systems, in particular, were
proving their worth to banks.
"Just because two-factor technology exists, it does not make
sense for banks to go into panic mode and say 'we must do it now',"
she said.
"A better approach is to ask yourself where your biggest
vulnerabilities are and work in a tactical manner. It looks like
that is the line being taken."
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Banks tread warily over two-factor security