Online Bank Blocks Customer Password
03/09/2008
A Shrewsbury man has been prevented by his bank from using an online banking password that criticised the institution.
Angry with Lloyds TSB over travel insurance that was offered with the bank account, the man changed his banking password to 'Lloyds is pants'. He then discovered the bank had changed it to something else without his permission, and without informing him.
The man attempted to change his password to 'Barclays is better' and then 'Lloyds is rubbish' only to find that these passwords were also not permitted because of their critical content. The bank also stopped him from using the word 'censorship'.
The worrying aspect, of course, is that the bank changed the password at all - that should only be done by the customer. The only legitimate reason for the bank to ask the man to change his password would be if it had been deemed insecure, but on that basis they would probably need to ask millions of customers to do the same thing.
Lloyds TSB said of the customer: "It is very disappointing that he felt the need to express his upset with our service in this way. Customers can have any password they choose and it is not our policy to allow staff to change the password without the customer's permission."
Angry with Lloyds TSB over travel insurance that was offered with the bank account, the man changed his banking password to 'Lloyds is pants'. He then discovered the bank had changed it to something else without his permission, and without informing him.
The man attempted to change his password to 'Barclays is better' and then 'Lloyds is rubbish' only to find that these passwords were also not permitted because of their critical content. The bank also stopped him from using the word 'censorship'.
The worrying aspect, of course, is that the bank changed the password at all - that should only be done by the customer. The only legitimate reason for the bank to ask the man to change his password would be if it had been deemed insecure, but on that basis they would probably need to ask millions of customers to do the same thing.
Lloyds TSB said of the customer: "It is very disappointing that he felt the need to express his upset with our service in this way. Customers can have any password they choose and it is not our policy to allow staff to change the password without the customer's permission."
