According to security researchers commissioned by “Which?” Starling Bank’s recently-launched online banking service is the most secure among the UK’s 13 leading banks.
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“Which?” awarded Starling Bank with an 85 percent score in the security test based on the findings of researchers at 6point6, while banks like Barclays, First Direct, and HSBC followed close behind at 78 percent score.
Some “worrying gaps” were found in Santander, Tesco Bank and TSB’s online banking security, the three worst-performing banks of the study.
The reason why Starling ranked so highly is that the user may only change the most sensitive data via its app. Therefore Starling’s online banking offering remains somewhat limited, which may not be handy from time to time. However, this also means the best option for online security.
A spokesperson of Santander mentioned to the various ‘back end’ security measures not included in the Which? review and said: “Santander takes online security very seriously and we invest a great deal in cybersecurity and fraud prevention and ensuring we protect our customers’ money and data safely and effectively.”
“Banks must lead the battle against fraud, yet our security tests have revealed a big gap between the best and worst providers when it comes to keeping people safe from the threat of having their account compromised,” said Harry Rose, editor of Which? Magazine.
“The serious failings we have exposed with some providers reinforce the need for banks to up their game on scam protections, and for greater transparency and stronger standards on fraud reimbursement to be made mandatory for all banks and payment providers.”
Monzo, Nationwide and TSB failed to detect whether if the banking app was running on an emulator or rooted device, which are mostly used by fraudsters to detect vulnerabilities or get around a smartphone restriction.
