Every time you phone Barclays or First Direct this month, your voice will be recorded — and not just for ‘training purposes’.
Both banks are pioneering new technology to put an end to the misery of remembering passwords, log-ins and security questions.
If you give permission, computers will map your speech patterns as you chat to staff about the weather and the service you need.
Epidemic: You are 20 times more likely to be robbed while using your computer than in the street
After three calls, the computer will have heard enough to recognise your voice. Hey presto! No passwords next time you ring up.
Crucially, banks claim so-called voice recognition technology is a stronger barrier against fraud.
Your voice is as unique as your fingerprint, with 100 characteristics determined by the shape of your mouth and vocal chords.
Not only is it tricky for criminals to mimic your voice, if they use a machine it’ll struggle to hold a conversation with call handlers on the lookout for crooks. Barclays has been testing the technology since 2013 and has caught fraudsters trying to pose as customers.
Other banks are set to follow. Many are working away on similar initiatives — whether it’s fingerprint sensors at RBS/NatWest, facial recognition at new bank Atom or Halifax’s wristband to identify customers by their heartbeats.
But a word of caution: this technological wizardry is no silver bullet for Britain’s fraud epidemic.
Maybe I’ve seen too many sci-fi films, but I don’t believe it’s beyond a computer whiz to copy my voice pattern by hacking into bank systems. More importantly, new technologies will do nothing to help most fraud victims.
You are 20 times more likely to be robbed while using your computer than in the street.
Official data show there were 5.8 million instances of cyber crime in Britain in the past year, with one in ten adults losing money.
And rarely did the criminal need to contact a bank posing as the customer.
The most dangerous scams are hard to spot. On the rise is one that involves a criminal intercepting emails to — and posing as — builders, solicitors and holiday home owners. The victim is sent details of a bank account to pay a bill, transfers the cash and is none the wiser until the original company chases payment.
Crooks posing as bank staff routinely talk elderly victims into believing their account is at risk of fraud. They are told to move their cash to a ‘safe’ account that’s actually held by the criminal, who then scarpers. No new password tech will stop this.
A cashpoint scam is also on the rise, where victims are distracted for a moment by a gang member who memorises their PIN. Another then nabs their card. We’ll keep exposing these scams, but banks and the authorities combating fraud must do more to help.
It’s all very well ploughing money into fancy gizmos that rid us of passwords, but banks must invest more in newspaper and TV adverts warning of fraud.
To its credit, Barclays has led the way with prime-time adverts and a video explaining how ATM fraud works. Watch it here.
And it’s disappointing to find that the government taskforce to push banks to improve security is on ice after the political upheaval of the past two months. It urgently needs to reconvene.
A real turn-off
Switching broadband, energy or phone deals fills me with dread. It’s not just the time-sapping process of shopping around but, as Tony Hazell explains today, the task of getting it cancelled can drive you to distraction.
How ridiculous that a phone call is more acceptable to some firms than a signed letter.
The main problem is that no watchdog or government body has set down minimum standards. Firms should be forced to accept cancellation in writing, agree to taking under ten minutes to cancel by phone — and be banned from bombarding us with sales pitches.
It’s time the Competition and Markets Authority acted.
Break up BT
BT boss John Petter is an impressive man. Aged just 45, the bearded former Sainsbury’s shelf-stacker is already in charge of the telecom giant’s consumer arm.
And I’d like to see him made more powerful… by an almighty break-up of BT. Recently I met Mr Petter at his London office to discuss the awful problems Money Mail readers have had getting faulty broadband and phone lines fixed.
He assured me that the customer service part — answering calls, quick responses — was in hand. Call centres are returning to the UK and staff are being retrained.
It was encouraging, though the proof will be in the letters in Money Mail’s postbag.
However, I believe that if BT Openreach — responsible for faults in wires, telephone poles and so on — were a separate company, Mr Petter’s job would be much easier and customers would benefit.
Afterwards, the ever polite Mr Petter accompanied me to the exit. It was pouring with rain and BT’s lobby roof was leaking. Isn’t it strange when the weather seems to mirror the rest of life?
TomTom’s tops
A letter arrives from J.B. , of Bournemouth. He says: ‘My TomTom Start 25 satnav recently kept saying: ‘Waiting for satellite coverage’ wherever I was in the UK.
‘Several calls to TomTom help centres didn’t solve the problem. Eventually I was told to return the device and await the results of an investigation. I wasn’t sure it was in guarantee.
‘Five days later, a new satnav arrived free of charge. That’s what I call excellent service.’
Agreed. I’m a big fan of no-quibble replacements for technology, which should be built to last longer.
My only gripe with TomTom is it kept leading my furniture removal van astray a few weeks ago. With smartphones doing the same job, I see satnavs vanishing soon.
No Comment! Be the first one.