Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 November 2021
241. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Finance the actions his Department is taking to assist bank customers without smartphone technology to still have access to online shopping and other online banking services (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57073/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy may be aware, as Minister for Finance, I have no role in the commercial decisions made by any bank in the State. This includes banks in which the State has a shareholding.
Decisions in this regard are the sole responsibility of the board and management of the banks, which must be run on an independent and commercial basis. The independence of banks in which the State has a shareholding is protected by Relationship Frameworks which are legally binding documents that cannot be changed unilaterally. These frameworks, which are publicly available, were insisted upon by the European Commission to protect competition in the Irish market.
With regards to supporting customers with online banking activities, AIB have informed me that in order to comply with the EU’s Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) regulations, they have introduced additional measures around online purchasing. Personal customers do not require a smart phone to complete purchases online and more information on this can be found on the AIB website.
Business customers, however, are required to download the AIB Authenticator App in order to authenticate online purchases through either a smart phone or tablet.
Personal customers have a choice in terms of how they want to set up SCA for accessing online banking services, including alternatives to a smartphone or a mobile phone. These alternative options include:
- If customers don’t wish to use the App or don’t have a mobile phone, they can set up SCA with a Card Reader. The Card Reader is a security device that works in conjunction with the customer’s AIB Debit Card and PIN to generate unique security codes which are used to complete certain AIB Phone and Internet Banking transactions, including logon access. A Card Reader can be ordered through the 'Services & Settings' section on Internet Banking or by contacting AIB’s Customer Services team on 0818 724 724.
- Customers can contact AIB’s Customer Services team on 0818 724 724 to enquire about setting up SCA for online banking logon access via SMS text message.
