Would you be happy to say goodbye to passwords?

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“malcolm r says: Today 13:51
dieseltaylor, given the “professional” publications around on money matters do you think Which? does enough research, and has sufficient knowledge and expertise, to present fair assessments of particular financial issues? I would hope it would consult with appropriate bodies before going into print and stirring up passions.”

I cannot afford to buy more than one Which? publication but occasionally I do get the Money Which? magazine. The latest one being December 2015 which I picked up at the AGM.

It is better than the Which? mag in being information dense but in itself it looks purely at personal finance. And like all such magazines most of the content deals with current issues and taxation. Useful for those with money. Its circulation is also quite small. Perhaps undeservedly small.

There is also the question such as p25 on “How do tracker Funds generate a profit?” which as it mentions simply “stock-lending” I found a little disingenuous given how stock-lending can work.
” The Kay review argued that the risks associated with stock lending were borne by the investor so there was a divergence between the recipient of the income (the fund manager and the investor) and the bearer of the risk (the investor alone). This divergence, said the Kay review, could provide an inappropriate incentive to engage in stock lending and, more broadly, was inconsistent with fiduciary principles.” 2012

You may wonder why the answer did not cover the apparent small percentage charged by trackers if multiplied by the odd hundred of millions of pounds invested is a tidy sum for tracking an existing index. BlackRock Equity D makes around £5m from the £8,383,000,000 invested on £0.06 fee. It also takes 37.5% of the money raised from stock lending.

Broader matters like the security of payment systems, the digital economy and those disadvantaged by it , are far more general issues which need the widest audience. For instance the annual cost to an employee on his AE pension could be 100% more if he is not enrolled in NEST but in other providers. The idea that each year you pay 0.75% of your pension pot to the pension fund manager rather than 0.3% would seem laughable.

I’d welcome anything safe and sure to avoid using passwords. I’m pass worded up to the hilt and have to consult a list of them to proceed with online finances.
To enter my bank account I have to use: a customer number of 10 digits, an online pin number and a 10 character password. In addition to that I sometimes have to use a card reader for certain transactions.
It takes me so long to get passed the security page they flag up a banner asking me if I’m having trouble entering the system…….”Yes I am I often shout at the screen.”
I know that writing down passwords is not recommended but I need to and keep them safely locked away.

One of the simplest and most effective way of limiting password theft and hacking is to impose the most draconian punishments on those who seek to swindle people by using this method. Strip them of ALL their assets and any passed on to others. Send them to forced labour camps and deprive them of their freedom. Do this for many years to make their lives as uncomfortable as they made the lives of their victims.

Fingerprint recognition works well on my iPhone 6 but not entirely reliably. I find that if my fingers are damp, slightly damaged from rough work or whatever, and sometimes for no obvious reason, it doesn’t work. I wouldn’t want it to replace other verification methods entirely.

I use a downloadable commercial programme site, which has a password generator, to store my passwords which are protected with a master password. It automatically allows me to enter my password with one click when logging on to a site which requires a password. You can also securely store other information. Is this system (without naming it) safe?

Replacing Passwords.
Fingerprint instead of password may seem a good option but this won’t work for people, like me, who have naturally dry skin and very smooth fingers (or others whose fingerprints are made smooth by certain prescription drugs). My iphone doesn’t register my print at all; and twice I have had nasty problems at Immigration Control at airports in the USA, because my print wouldn’t register on their scanners.
Making up an efficient password is well worth the bother!

good share