By Third Party, 16 September 2010
Page last updated at 12:18 PM 16-09-2010
On Tuesday, the Commonwealth Bank announced that new customers could apply for an account or credit card using electronic customer verification without the need to produce identification at a branch.
The bank says the new online identification process can identify a customer, complete their account application, receive an online banking ID and password and secure an account number within 10 minutes "without having to complete any further checks".
"We are one of the first banks in Australia to offer prospective customers this functionality," CBA executive general manager direct channels Quentin Boyes said in a statement.
"In less than 10 minutes new customers apply for a bank account without having to visit a branch.
"New customers simply enter identification information securely online, for example, driver's licence, passport, birth certificate and similar to assist in verifying their identity."
The bank then verifies the new customer's identity against various external sources, the bank said.
While the move has broader implications for the demise of bank branches, McAfee's global chief technology officer and executive vice-president George Kurtz says it's these external sources together with hoax bank websites that could lead to trouble.
"There's certainly going to be some element of fraud as this takes place and it's a matter of monitoring that fraud and keeping it down to a safe level," Mr Kurtz told AAP.
"(Criminals) will make specific malware that will infiltrate these big databases.
"Once they get in to those data systems then they can harness that data and it becomes the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow."
Mr Kurtz did advise those who use online banking to steer away from using their kids' computers, which are a "petri dish of malware" or desktop computers at work.