Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is introducing new security measures for its 2.3 million Web banking customers aimed at preventing account hacking and ID fraud.
Users of the NetBank service will now be prompted to answer personal identification questions before making some transactions such as first time third party payments or requesting an international money order.
The bank is also adding e-mail alerts to the service which will be used to confirm any changes that customers make to their personal details.
Quentin Boyes, executive general manager, business & technology services, says: "For customers, the security improvements are simple to use and deliver immediate protection in the unlikely event of their account being subject to attempted fraudulent activity."
Boyes says CBA is also examining further changes to be introduced in 2006 and is continuing its review of two-factor authentication technology.
The bank began looking at two-factor security technology from suppliers in May, with a view to introducing the technology some time next year. Boyes says the bank is currently reviewing an SMS-based two-factor authentication system that requires the use of tokens that generate one-time passwords.
National Australia Bank said earlier this year that it plans to offer SMS-based two-factor authentication to its online customers, while Bendigo Bank is rolling out keyring-sized authentication tokens from Belgium-based Vasco that generate single-use passwords to its customers.