Banks doubt usefulness of ID card scheme
While the Home Office is hoping ID cards will one day be used for everything fromclaiming benefits to opening bank accounts, the UK financial services industry has its doubts over how useful the cards will prove.
The UK payments association Apacs – whose members includes the UK’s major high street banks – is worried that security features that would have made the card useful for checking identity in large money transfers and online transactions have been stripped from the scheme.
Head of security for Apacs Colin Whittaker told a conference hosted by the BCS Security Forum yesterday: “Some of the features we were expecting in the ID card are not going to be present for the foreseeable future.
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According to the Home Office, it is important not to overcomplicate the card with too many features.
Speaking at the same event, identity minister Meg Hillier said: “If you try and lay too much on something then you risk overwhelming it and making it too complex.
“You risk the core and the core is that we have an ID register that is safe and links an individual to their ID.”
Not if the Register isn’t checked, you dullard.
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