‘I’m not a robot’

If you’re bored of captcha codes and endless security questions, you’re not alone – millions of Brits are ‘fed-up’ with ‘overly complicated’ web and phone security measures, a study has found.

Researchers who polled 2,000 UK adults found 77 per cent don’t see the need for what they consider ‘unnecessary’ procedures. Around half are sick of having to answer ‘endless’ security questions whenever they call customer service departments. And six in 10 are riled by the ‘need’ for elaborate passwords featuring a mix of numbers, symbols and capital letters. Some 43 per cent are fed-up with the faff of two-step verification and seven in 10 are frustrated by captcha codes – as they tend to feature illegible words.

Commissioned by global analytics company FICO, the research also found almost two thirds think there are simply too many security measures nowadays. Gabriel Hopkins, a vice president for fraud solutions at FICO, said: “Consumers may be happy their bank is protecting them from fraud, but they’re not happy about the inconvenience this causes. More than ever, banks need to figure out how to keep fraud management effective without negatively impacting customer experience. This is challenging in an online, on-demand world, but essential if banks are to hold their own against fintechs.”

Having to remember password recovery email addresses is an irritation for 51 per cent – and similarly six in 10 find it annoying when email systems log them out randomly as a security measure. Interestingly, 42 per cent even consider airport security to be an inconvenience and 34 per cent regard mobile phone PINs as a somewhat of a hassle. Seven in 10 said they struggle to keep track of all their passwords.

And perhaps it’s no wonder with those polled having 32 different online accounts on average – including email accounts, shopping accounts, social media accounts, bank accounts and more. In fact, the security measures associated with banking appear to be particularly frustrating to some of those polled – especially when it comes to opening a new account online.

Gabriel Hopkins added: “Good management of security and fraud has become a competitive advantage for banks. Now the challenge is to automate more interactions and improve communications to make sure that customers don’t abandon purchases or move to other payment channels that promise an easier transaction.”