Better be safe than sorry! That's the mantra of IT-savvy banks. Be it state-owned, private or foreign, most banks have prioritised high tech connectivity and spent huge sums in building their net banking security systems.
Still, customers aren't convinced. A large number of bank customers sign up for Net banking, but end up using the facility to check account balances and status of cheques deposited and issued. There's hardly any transaction conducted online.
A low comfort level in making online money transfers scares away bank customers from transacting online. There's fear of fraud and theft of Net banking username and password -- either by hackers or by known persons. Online banking thus ends up in just being another medium for information viewing.
A new security measure has emerged that's expected to address bank customers' concerns to a great extent. It's called 'Two Factor Authentication.'
Two Factor originated in the Scandinavian countries and was recently made mandatory in Hong Kong.
It has now arrived on the Indian shores. Yes Bank has implemented the Two Factor Authentication process for its net banking facility.
Two Factor Authentication requires a bank customer to go through a two-step authorisation process. After a customer keys in his username and Internet banking password to access to his account, another security screening is scheduled if the customer wants to carry out a transaction.
The second stage of security screening involves the mobile phone. When a customer clicks on the transaction menu, the system generates a one-time use transaction password and sends it to the mobile handset with the customer using the short messaging service (SMS).
The two-stage security screening makes the possibility of fraud or theft of username and password of a customer nearly impossible. A security breach can happen only if a customer is extremely careless to lose not only his mobile phone, but also his Net banking username and password.
