The bank says a survey of 1000 of its own customers found that just one in three people (32%) want to be supplied with a security device for online transactions.

The introduction of an additional security question was even less popular, with just 30.5% saying they want more security questions.

But the survey did find that more Internet banking users - 40% - want better monitoring of transactions by their bank.

Abbey says 69% of people feel 'safer' using a credit card to buy purchases via the Internet. Almost half of survey respondents said the issue of Internet fraud influenced the card they used when they made transactions online.

But despite the ongoing desire for security, the key thing for customers is security with no hassle, says Abbey.

"People want security with the least hassle. Finding customer-friendly ways to protect people and their accounts is key. Ongoing monitoring is one of the most important factors in preventing card fraud," says Neil Wilson, director of financial crime, Abbey.

Unlike many other UK banks - including Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Lloyd TSB and Nationwide Building Society - Abbey has stated that it has "no plans" to supply authentication devices to customers.

HSBC has also opted out of issuing authentication devices and argues that its existing monitoring procedures and customer education initiatives are already effective in detecting and preventing fraud.

Both RBS and Nationwide have begun issuing customers with hand-held authentication devices developed by French vendor Xiring, which are used with debit cards to access online banking accounts. Lloyds TSB is set to roll out a key-ring-sized authentication deveice developed by Vasco, while Barclays has issued its PINSentry devices which customers use with a debit card and PIN to authenticate their identity at log in and for making certain payments.