Natwest have already introduced someting similar, and in my eyes, more secure than a phone call. I'm sure all of you natwest customers know how annoying it is to use their new card reader, but when you think about it, it is a LOT more secure. Having to insert your card into the reader when transferring funds online outside of your accounts, and then entering your pin, and having to enter the random security number the card reader then gives you is a brilliant idea, inconvenient though.
However, it does bode the question, why is it needed in the first place? Obviously the security measures they have in place already for online banking aren't secure enough, which does make you worry when you think just how much money those banks deal with on a day to day basis.
Working in a call centre enviroment for a credit card company, I'm shocked at how many details get left around on desks/the floor written on scraps of paper. The lack of security is rediculous. Granted, you're every move is tracked via your login on the computer, but with the amount of details OTHERS leave laying around, it would be far too easy for someone to pick it up. Even the cleaners that're in the building all day could quite easily pick the scraps of paper up and pocket them. There are secure bins that these scraps of paper are supposed to be put into, but I would put money on being able to find someones full account details with just a quick rummage through the regular bins.
One way they could put a stop to this is by eliminating the use of paper. Computers have got a notepad on them, which is far easier to use than any scrap piece of paper and pen. Simply limit the functions on the PC so that you can't print from them, and voila. It all boils down to ignorance.
When you think about it in laymans terms. An advisor in the building I work in on average a day takes around 80-100 calls. That's 80-100 individual bank account details right there, in one day. Over a week, that's 400-500 accounts breached, should just ONE disgruntled employee go on a rampage of stealing account details. This includes all of the answers to security questions needed in order to takeover accounts if they wanted to.
For me, working in a position such as this, it really does open your eyes to the bigger picture. Especially when you get Mr/Mrs Smith on the phone effing and blinding at you about refunding late charges when they know full well they made the payment late and refuse to accept responsibility for it. In one split second, that advisor could choose to destroy that persons financial credibility for the forseeable future. It's tempting, believe me.
I suppose when it comes down to it, the old saying, don't be rude to the person who serves/cooks your food, applies to everything where you're relying on someone else for help/advice/service.
With regards to employees taking laptops home, yes, this happens, however, they do not store the database on the hard drives of the laptops. Not only would that be impossible due to the size of the database, but it would be irrelevant. Staff that use laptops for their work are usually higher management & IT staff. The IT staff remotely connect to the servers whilst in, and out of the building via secure connections. The servers are probably the most secured part of the banks internal system & believe me, you would need some pretty hefty industrial equipment to get access to them, and everyone would notice. The management have no need to access customer records, they use the laptops for admin purposes, email, diarising etc. I think people only believe this happens due to the department of working pensions screwing up with everyones benefit records, which was just stupid, and I expect nothing more from our government.
At the end of the day, financial bodies rely on trust from their employees. And this means all employees should be vetted much more strictly than they are. I had no criminal check performed on me when I applied for the job, not that I have a criminal record to hide, and a large proportion of my colleagues are university students up to their eyes in debt, struggling to pay their way through uni. Quite a few are fresh out of school, this being their first job. I see the words 'Risk Assessment' mentioned a lot in my on going training, but I feel that the bank fails to cover themselves at the beginning of the process when employing staff, which in turn causes the entire system to fail in one way or another.