Techno | Banking On Convenience

This will sound a bit strange. For someone who deals mostly with computers and IT, I am probably the last human with such profession to use Internet Banking.

Well, better late than never.

Purchasing items off the Internet is nothing new to me, but transacting my finances in cyberspace is something I just did for the first time today.

I have no idea why I am late to use it. Probably with all the news of spy-ware lurking in our PCs that may steal our personal details, especially our passwords to critical financial transaction site.

The bank does have the "lock" icon signifying the safe and secured zone for transacting, but the personal data kept in our PCs or key-strokes done on our PCs make me quite unsettling.

To ensure privacy is not compromised, I have installed Microsoft's Windows OneCare for a few months now, which has already gained my confidence to protect my PC from spy-ware and ad-ware as well.

So, with that is place at my end, and the more advanced security measures the banks have put in place, I am ready for Internet banking.

I know, I am a bit paranoid... I do not have large sums of money stashed away in some bank, but it is my hard-earned money nonetheless.

So, I applied an account via a Teller Machine at the Tampines Central CC on a Sunday morning, 4th June 2006. Simple and straightforward application where my temporary User ID was given with my chosen Password.

The next step was to go online. I delayed that for several days.

Today, I did it, but with coincidental "challenges" thrown at me.

To change and confirm both my User ID and log-in password.

Firstly, when I logged-in, the Personal banking was off-line temporarily for maintenance purposes. I just had to try again next time.

Secondly, when I tried it again a few days later, the ATM slip that was given to me had 3 of its temporary User ID blanked out! Great! How convenient is that!

I just laughed. Someone is trying to tell me something here...

I put it off again. My mind was telling me what to do next... call the bank for assistance?

I came back to see the slip to see if I can pick-up some kind of trace on the missing prints.

Tilted the slip against the light and there it was the 3 missing alphanumeric numbers very faintly casted a rough trace on the smooth-surfaced thermal printed slip.

Logged-on and keyed-in and I was in. Yes! Finally.


Wow! I felt like Indiana Jones in The Da Vinci Code!

I felt silly to face all these little "obstacles" just to "bank" on a convenience now... something that people all over the world have been using for ages.

Well... never too late. Precaution is always better.