Another sign that phishing is taking its toll on the quality of service banks can offer online customers: The Times reports that UK banks are introducing delays in intra-bank payments to try to combat fraudulent transfers caused by phishing attacks:
This week Barclays introduced a one-day delay for transfers. A spokeswoman said: “This delay enables us to carry out checks that seek to prevent fraud.” Halifax also introduced delays in the processing of payments this week, as have Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest, The Times reports today.
Interesting. Inevitable, perhaps, but this degradation in service can only force some customers back to the physical banks, or to less appealing and less cost-effective services like phone-banking. Running checks on every Internet transfer is going to be time-consuming and expensive for banks. What does this do to banks’ hopes that online banking would effectively replace the high street bricks-and-mortar model?