Keen on biometrics as Malaysians struggle with banking passwords

Fico, in the same study, found out that a notable percentage of Malaysians are not taking the necessary precautions to protect their passwords and logins when banking online.

The study found that only 46 per cent are using separate passwords to access multiple accounts; 22 per cent have between two to five passwords they reuse across accounts; and a staggering 14 per cent use a single password across all accounts.

Additionally, 23 per cent of respondents use an encrypted password manager — which many consider best practice — while 22 per cent adopted risky approaches to recall passwords, such as writing them down in a notebook.

“As consumers’ reliance on online services grows in response to Covid-19, criminals are preying on this, targeting consumers with malicious activities such as phishing and social engineering,” said Subhashish.

“With Malaysia’s movement control order, many Malaysians are only able to access their finances digitally, so it’s essential to stay vigilant and take the time to adopt security best practices.”

FICO’s study shows that consumers struggle to recall their current passwords.

Nearly half of respondents (43 per cent) reported that they have abandoned an online purchase because they forgot the login information, and 45 per cent saying they were unable to check an account balance.

Forgotten usernames and passwords also affect new account openings, with 20 per cent saying that it has stopped them doing so with an existing provider.

This is noteworthy as consumers are more willing than ever to bank online.

The study found that 78 per cent of Malaysians say they would open some kind of financial account online, such as personal loans ( 28 per cent), credit cards (45 per cent) and everyday transaction accounts ( 65 per cent).

Malaysians have at the same time become more accepting of biometrics, with the study revealing that 78 per cent are happy to provide this information to their bank.

The use of fingerprints was the most widely accepted approach (79 per cent), facial scans came second ( 38 per cent) and eye scans last ( 27 per cent).

A more popular alternative with Malaysians was analysis of how they type their password (74 per cent), a technique known as behavioural biometrics.

The survey also asked Malaysians about the current security used when logging into their mobile banking apps beyond traditional usernames and passwords.

The five most widely used security alternatives were:

• One-time passcode via SMS ( 63 per cent)

• Fingerprint scan ( 39 per cent)

• One-time passcode via email ( 33 per cent)

• One-time passcode generated by bank supplied device ( 30 per cent)

• Facial scan ( 23 per cent) “Digital services are now an important part of our lives, it’s very important for consumers to protect themselves from online scams and fraud,” said Bose.

“Malaysians have the highest adoption of one-time passcodes by SMS out of all ten countries surveyed, but they are also willing to adopt additional biometrics to secure their accounts.

“Financial institutions and Malaysian consumers have shown they are ready to adopt more secure au t h e nt i c a t i o n technologies in an effort to stay protected from fraudsters online.”