iProov Calls Out Banks With Poor Digital Services

iProov has published the results of a study that suggests that many top banks are needlessly creating more hassle for their customers with poor digital services. In that regard, the study noted that those banks simply do not allow customers to complete certain activities online, which turns people away from digital banking and limits future growth opportunities.

That was particularly true for customers who want to sign up for secondary services after making an account. The study looked at the top 20 banks in the US, and found that only 35 percent of those banks tried to make it easier for existing customers to register for new services. A third asked those customers to submit additional information, while another offered no benefits to existing customers, and instead forced them to start the entire application process from scratch.

Other banks actively pushed customers away from digital channels. Half of the banks do not allow users to reset a PIN or request a new debit card online, which means that customers have to call the bank or visit a branch in person in order to complete those requests. That reduces the utility of the digital channel, and creates more friction for everyday users.

At the same time, banks are surprisingly lax about some aspects of digital security. The vast majority (90 percent) of banks allowed customers to create a new password as long as they could confirm the old one, offering little protection against cybercriminals who can get past passwords. By the same token, 60 percent of banks allow customers to update personal information like address and cellphone number as long as they have the right user name and password, and do not ask for any other form of verification.

While banks do send email alerts in the case of a password change, many customers felt that those emails asked them to take on security responsibilities that should fall on the bank itself. For its part, iProov argued that banks should take advantage of mobile authentication features that can provide a layer of strong biometric security without disrupting service for those using mobile banking apps.

“Banks no longer need to choose between security and usability when it comes to delivering an impressive online customer experience – the technology now exists to deliver both at once,” said iProov President Joe Palmer. “Genuine Presence Assurance, completed with face authentication, means that even the most secure processes can be completed online.”

iProov’s liveness detection technology boasts ISO certification. Acuant and Evernym are some of the company’s most recent customers, and its technology is also being used in an immunity passport trial in the United Kingdom.

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February 4, 2021 – by Eric Weiss