I read today that HSBC UK is planning to issue credit card sized keycode devices that will generate onetime passwords for accessing its Internet Banking portal. My immediate reaction was:
Finally HSBC UK does it!
HSBC India issued tokens for One Time Password (OTP) generation for Internet Banking access more than six years ago. I didn’t have to visit the branch to collect the token which came to my home address by post. It got activated upon first use. Losing the token, battery running dry and all other standard concerns around this technology have somehow spared me so far, and I’ve been a satisfied user of this security method.
Around four years ago, I visited the HSBC branch in Canary Wharf to open a bank account. After finishing the entry of my basic particulars into her PC, the manager who was doing this on my behalf asked me to come over to her side of the table and enter a static password for Internet Banking access on her computer.
Given my elegant, self-service experience with HSBC India, I was surprised to come across a somewhat crude and old-fashioned process in HSBC UK – and that too at the branch right below its global HQ!
When I pointed this out, the manager admitted that, unfortunately, all system enhancements in UK were put on hold pending a multi-year core replacement.
Looks like this hold has finally been removed.
This experience taught me a lot about how legacy systems stymie progress in one part of a bank whereas their absence infuses agility into its other parts, however remote they may be from the headquarters.