Why are we still using key generator devices for Internet banking?

One of the barriers to Internet banking in Indonesia is the compulsory requirement to use a physical key generator as an additional security measure to prevent unauthorized access to your bank account. While it may make it more difficult for someone to try and break into bank accounts, the inconvenience of it becomes a price to pay for consumers to engage in safe internet banking.

Inconvenient because every time you need to perform an online transaction session, you would need to enter a set of numbers produced by the key generator. This means you have to carry this small calculator-like device with you at all times among a collection of your other gadgets that you carry on a daily basis.

What's the big deal, it's just another small gadget, you probably are asking. The big deal is that if you lose it you'll need to request another one from the bank and it's not that convenient if it happens to be at five in the afternoon or you're in an area without a branch of that bank, for example overseas.

Additionally if you're overseas for an extended period of time and the battery in your key generator runs out. You're pretty much prevented from any online transaction using your Indonesian bank account.

These days people carry all different kinds of smartphones and they do all sort of different things like playing music, watching movies, buy and sell shares, draw buildings and parks, play games, email, browse websites, and so on. Everything converges into a single device, so why not internet banking?

Overseas, people do internet banking from their phones or mobile devices. They pay for airfares, buy presents, transfer funds, all through their handhelds, all through integrated apps without having to use a separate key generator, so why do we have to use it here?

Internet banking in this country has been around for just over a decade. Back then smartphones did not exist, although they weren't using key generators either, but of course they later added them to improve security.

Since today's devices are able to perform so many functions, coming up with a secure key generator app shouldn't be too difficult. Google for example has its own app called Google Authenticator to provide two step authentication process for access to its services where available.

Banks could hire application developers to come up with their own key generator app for each of the major mobile platforms. Since adoption of these advanced devices are on the rise, it shouldn't be too much of an issue in delivering such apps for Symbian, BlackBerry, Android, iOS and perhaps Windows Phone platforms.

Or they could go all the way and make an app for all Internet banking activities which would make things that much easier and more convenient for customers.

Of course, the majority of bank account holders in Indonesia still use java-based phones, and since there are many who do not understand the utility of applications, the demand for key generators would remain large.

For the sake of customer service and making it that much more convenient for the tens of millions of Indonesian smartphone owners to engage in internet banking, it certainly would be worth the cost to develop those apps.

[image by @BrettMcGuire]