Macquarie Bank lets customers personalise authentication settings

Macquarie Bank is giving customers the option to customise the digital security settings on their online banking accounts according to personal preference using its existing authentication app.

The bank on Thursday said customers could now choose from three levels of authentication through the Macquarie Authenticator app to protect against fraudulent logins and financial transactions.

The app, which was launched in August 2019 and runs alongside Macquarie’s mobile banking app, sends push notifications to customers, allowing them to verify transactions and attempted logins.

Macquarie said the app is particularly useful when customers are travelling overseas, or when SMS - which many banking apps use to notify customers when a transaction is performed - is delayed or unavailable.

The highest level of authentication, dubbed ‘ultimate’, will require additional verification on all attempted logins regardless of the device, as well as changes to sensitive account details and certain transactions.

Push notifications will detail information relating to the attempted login such as browser type, device name, time and approximate location, which customers can then approve or deny in real-time.

The ultimate authentication setting will also allow customers to view their login history for the past six months”

In contrast, the ‘enhanced’ authentication setting will only require additional verification on unknown devices, while ‘standard’ will only required additional verification on changes to sensitive account details and certain financial transactions on the customers usual device.

Macquarie said the enhanced security feature was a “first for Australian banking”, giving its customers “greater flexibility and choice to manage their account security in a way that suits them”.

“We know security is one of the biggest concerns for Australians when it comes to their finances,”Macquarie’s head of personal banking Ben Perham said of the latest security features.

“As a digital bank, we’re focussed on enabling our customers to bank in a way that suits them, including personalising their security settings.”

Perham added that the customisable push alert security feature would empower customers and give them “extra peace of mind”.