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Cape Town – Passwords have emerged as the bane of South Africans who use the internet, a survey has found.
According to a survey conducted by MasterCard, 61% of locals are annoyed that they have to remember multiple passwords resulting in 86% forgetting important passwords at some stage.
"Consumers and businesses alike across South Africa seek faster, more secure and smarter methods of payment for an increasing array of transactions,” said Mark Elliott, division president of MasterCard South Africa.
The survey found that 45% of South Africans enter passwords more than 10 times per day and 72% experience frustration when they forget passwords for a website.
More than half of respondents (58%) use the same password for multiple websites escalating the risk if cyber hackers manage to discover it.
Biometrics
READ: Four tech tools to replace your wallet
The RIP Passwords survey found that 63% would use biometrics in place of passwords if they had a choice.
“Furthermore, seven out of 10 say that biometrics, such as fingerprint or voice recognition technology, would be an easier way to access their accounts that require passwords,” the survey said.
But biometrics technology has come in for criticism from people concerned that thieves will cut off digits to use to gain illegal access to systems.
“The kinds of fingerprint readers that are coming out now that are being used by the banks and government specifically where they don’t want to vulnerable to what we call a spoof,” Nick Perkins, divisional director of Bytes IDM told Fin24 about biometrics technology.
Spoof detection is technology that analyses whether the finger is live and has the capability to block the transaction if the digit fails.
Banks are rolling out fingerprint recognition in branches and it is expected that ATMs and card payments will be the next roll-out of the technology.
Easy, simple payments
READ: Standard Bank edges toward fingerprint banking
“Gradually, all those credit card machines that are used in restaurants and shops are all provided by the banks will be replaced by devices that have a fingerprint reader because they want to make their customer’s experience when using a card as secure as possible,” Perkins said.
Elliott said that customers demand easy payment methods that are also secure.
“As mobile technology and payments evolve, people expect technology to simplify the way they pay for goods and services. Putting identity verification at the cardholder's fingertips makes it easier for consumers to complete secure transactions, regardless of whether they are shopping online or in-store."
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