PENSIONERS say that fear of fraud is the main reason they will not bank online as TSB launches facial recognition app.
New research from TSB reveals that more than half (57%) of over 55s say they never use mobile banking, despite being smartphone users. This is in contrast to 82% of 18-34-year olds who say they use mobile banking.
The findings come as TSB is rolling out new functionality which allows customers to open a current account using a selfie, without the need to visit a branch. The move is designed to speed up even further the time needed to open a new account remotely – while providing the latest cutting-edge technology to combat fraud.
READ MORE: Banking complaints at highest for five years as online scams soar
It comes a month after Scots were urged not to suffer in silence after being hit with a shocking rise in scams over just two years with the vulnerable being increasingly targeted.
Police Scotland have been dealing with increasing numbers of incidents where pensioners are being conned out of thousands of pounds.
New figures reveal that in the last two years the number of Scots who have reported being scammed has risen by 35% in just two years from 1279 to 1722.
And the number of over 75s that have reported being subject of fraud has risen by 62% according to the data provided by Action Fraud, the UK's police reporting centre. In the first six months of the 2016/17 financial year there were 270 worried calls from the elderly, but over the same period in 2018 that had risen to 438.
READ MORE: TSB says cutting hours will prevent more branch closures
The analysis revealed that over one in three of the 1722 scams reported by over 55s between April and September, 2018, were advance fee frauds. The scams involve fraudsters targeting victims to make advance or upfront payments for goods, services and or financial gains that do not materialise.
The TSB analysis found that nearly three in four people over 55 say they would benefit from being able to do their banking remotely, citing ‘speed’ and ‘convenience’ and ‘24/7 access’ as top reasons. However, the findings reveal that only one in four of over 50s would open a bank account using their smartphone compared with 72% of 18-34-year olds.
The main reason for not opening a bank account using their mobile was fear of fraud (58%).
But TSB’s research identified a cohort of over 55s dubbed Silver Selfies who use their smartphones daily.
Some 91% in the age group use them and the top reasons include keeping in touch with friends and family (61%), for emails (41%) and taking photos, such as selfies and pictures of loved ones (32%).
But only one in 10 use their phones for financial activity. Of those who do use their phones for financial activity, 36% use it to look at their balance and 23% to transfer money.
Pol Navarro, TSB’s digital director commented: “Opening a new account can sometimes feel like an arduous task, but adding this new feature means we take the hassle out of completing the process.
“We know that life can take over and that quick lunch time visit to a branch might not happen. With this new experience, we are making banking better and enabling customers to fully complete their application in a way that fully suits their busy lifestyles: just with a simple selfie.”
The move comes after TSB customers were hit by a series of glitches in the past year which affected banking services.
In December, just under two million TSB customers were unable to carry out online banking transactions after maintenance work overran.
It was the third time in 2018 that account-holders had been hit by technical problems.
An IT fiasco in April saw 1.9 million customers were unable to use their accounts for several weeks.
TSB reported further issues in September, again after maintenance work was carried out.
Paul Pester, TSB's former chief executive, was forced to step down because of the systems failure, and after he was accused of misleading MPs on the Treasury Committee.
TSB lost a net 16,000 customers in the three months following the IT debacle, out of a total of around five million.
Five months ago a glitch meant TSB and Barclays mobile banking apps were down, leaving customers unable to access their accounts on their phones.
The crash came on a day that many people received their salaries.
But in April, when TSB registered a small first quarter profit it claimed to have resolved all complaints linked to last year’s costly IT meltdown.
In the three months to March, TSB scraped to a £6.3 million profit, up from a £37.8 million loss during the same period last year.
The figures come after the bank swung to a mammoth loss last year after a disastrous migration of its IT system cost it £330 million.
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