Online banking increased in the UK in January

According to the report, nearly 11 million UK users logged on to banking websites. That is about 33% of the total online population. The most populated banking site was Royal Bank of Scotland with 2.9 million users. Lloyds TSB was the most popular brand with 2.9 million users. Lloyds TSB had the most visits per consumer as well with each user logging on nearly 7 times during the month. About 2 million consumers logged on to NatWest's online bank.

A few weeks ago, comScore released a similar report based on American online banking habits. That report shows that banks need to increase the customer service offerings on websites to keep customers coming back. From social settings like live chat to widgets offering investment information, consumers want more than the nuts and bolts approach to an online bank.

VeCommerce announces voice biometrics system for online banking

eCommerce's voice biometrics authenticates an individual's identity through the unique properties of his or her voice. A voice profile can be used to authenticate both telephone and online transactions without any Pins or passwords.

Brett Feldon, general manager at VeCommerce for the EMEA region, said: "Over a quarter of the UK population now regularly uses online banking but at the same time fraud continues to increase and criminals are becoming more sophisticated in their attacks."

Card readers deployed by financial institutions to address the online fraud menace have certain drawbacks, as they are expensive both to produce and support with the continual loss of passwords and the actual readers. "They also do not work 'out of band' and are vulnerable to 'man in the middle' attacks," Feldon said.

Online Banking: Is Security Up to You?

Malware protection out of date? Then don't blame us if your online bank account gets hacked. That was the message sent out by the UK banking industry when the British Bankers' Association (BBA) updated its Banking Code and Business Banking Code last Monday, according to a Friday article on The Register.

The Codes--essentially user agreements that all participating BBA banks use (you can read them here and here)--warn online banking customers that they might be responsible for their own losses if they "act without reasonable care," citing two sections as examples. One of those sections reads: "Keep your PC secure. Use up-to-date antivirus and spyware software and a personal firewall." It should be noted that the clause existed in the code in previous editions; The Register was merely noting that, even with the Codes' revisions, it's still there.

Of course, it's wishful thinking that anyone actually reads their banking agreements that far without going into legalese-induced shock. (When my bank recently made changes to its privacy policy, I called to opt out of their data collection "service." The person who helped me seemed genuinely surprised that I had actually read through all of the fine print.) And anyone who has had any dealings with insurance or banking companies will likely suspect that this clause is through the efforts of an in-house lawyer who found another way to avoid paying out damages.

uMonitor to deploy online banking services

Data processing technologies provisioner Open Solutions has entered into an agreement with financial services supplier uMonitor to provide online account opening and online banking services for banks and credit unions.

Open Solutions offers its clients the uMonitor’s uOpen & uFund online account opening and funding service as well as an account-to-account money transfer system called uTransfer, with their core processing platform, online banking service or loan decisioning system. Due to uMonitor’s account opening and funding with switch kit service and account-to-account money transfer service, financial institutions will have an online delivery service for its retail and commercial clients.