It would be awesome if BECU could create a second level of account password, for READONLY access.

[ITgreybeard]

With the establishment of READONLY access via a READONLY password, I could use that in Quicken and MINT for those programs to be able to retrieve information without the possibility of that password being used to extract or transfer money. Or I could have someone monitor account usage without being able to change account info.

[KristinA]

@ITgreybeard- Thanks for joining the conversation! Interesting concept- are you familiar with any company offering this type of password or doing this functionality, or something similar, today? We'd love to learn more! Cheers, KristinA 

[ITgreybeard]

Hello Kristin.  I first saw the recommendation for this access feature in a forum discussion of the online Mint service hosted by Intuit. I had been in the process of opening a Mint account when it arose that neither Mint nor BECU would be responsible if my Mint account info were hacked and money withdrawn or transferred as a result. The discussion prompted me to cancel my nascent Mint account.

I admit to knowing of no financial institution offering this service, but I recommend that to be seen as market opportunity rather than signal any unimportance. In fact, in the current climate of growing identity theft and account hacking, a service like this could be marketed as proof of BECU's unique interest in the financial well-being and safety of its members - to say nothing of the industry prestige of the first to offer this feature/service in advance of any other institution.

There are, I suspect (and I know a few), many potential online account users for current balance and financial statements who are wedded to paper, pen and ink because of the potential risk of opening up online access to their assets and income. ReadOnly online access would alleviate the fears of many of these folks, and attract others who currently bank elsewhere.

Waddaya think?

[ITgreybeard]

...the industry prestige of being the first...

[KristinA]

@ITgreybeard- Thanks for sharing your experience and for the additional context. I think the concept sounds very intriguing and, you're right, cutting edge.

I'll be looking forward to sharing this with our digital and security experts to discuss the feasibility for something like this and we'll be interested in seeing how the community responds for additional support and perspective.

Thanks for bringing this innovative idea to us! I'll share updates here as I learn them. Cheers, KristinA 

[ITgreybeard]

Of course I realize that "new" ideas are often found to have holes in them, so please do not be concerned for my sake if the response (initial response, anyway) is more negative than positive. I would still enjoy knowing of the discussion. More hopefully, other new ideas need time to percolate in people's minds before being treated as feasible, let alone desirable.

Just as background, my early career was at a money center bank at a time (in the wayback) when end-of-day cash management was a new concept in maximizing return on investment, and the banks that made their mark first in the market gleaned commercial customers from other institutions. Favorable exposure was given by national magazines, industry conferences, and local papers.

On the other hand, I was there to witness attempts to show lines of product to commercial bank customers via early laptops that had to be plugged into customers' phone systems to dial up (really: dial up!) the bank computers. As you can imagine, there was lots of crawling around under desks and behind consoles, and unplugging customers' deskphones and trying to navigate internal PBXs. That was a project that actually went too far before being scuttled. (There should have been some early-spec scenario walkthroughs that could have saved the bank time and money, and would have better preserved the dignity of young bank relationship officers [For good reason, the senior loan/relationship officers would have nothing to do with it!])

[KristinA]

@ITgreybeard- Thanks for sharing your story! Sometimes it seems we've come so far, and then other times... not! I appreciate your added level of insight and understanding into the organizational interworking of turning a great (or sometimes not-so-great!) idea into reality. Cheers, KristinA 

[esrav8r]

This suggestion is similar to one I have forwarded via the survey that got me into this forum. I have the problem described herein, but I also have a problem of allowing informational access to some of my several accounts without allowing said access to all accounts under my name. My suggestion is twofold, first strengthen the authentication process (possibly as a personal option) by following the current login procedure with a text message to one of a set of cell numbers selected by the person logging in from a list supplied by the account owner. Admittance to the accounts is granted only upon presenting the coded msg sent via text after first supplying the correct account name and pw. Thus, the access is constrained by not only the current criteria of knowledge of account name and associated pw, but also the posession of the cell phone in question and responding with the code sent to the cell. While this is not ironclad, it is a great step forward in account access security at very little cost to implement and zero cost for almost all users - some may see a slight uptick in text msg billing.

Having implemented the aforementioned security enhancement, the next step is to create a hierarchical account structure where there is a master account holder who holds the ability to instantiate subordinate accounts with access to a subset of the sundry accounts owned by the master with privileges assigned by the master to each subordinate account in a profile for each modifiable only by the master. Assignable privileges would include read-only access and write access and possibly a restricted subset of other banking transactions.

If this were implemented, I could instantiate accounts for my several grandchildren giving each the privilege of viewing their individual account balances and the abiliity to deposit funds into their accounts without allowing them to withdraw funds without consulting with me first. I would not allow them privileges to see or modify any of the data in my joint checking, savings or business accounts however. 

I would maintain the profiles for each of the accounts such that as they grow older and more mature, I would have the option of allowing them more control of their finances by modifying their profiles to allow withdrawls up to a specified limit or no limit when they reach 18 and become responsible for their own finances.

[KristinA]

@esrav8r- Thanks for joining the MIX and sharing your detailed support of this idea. It helps us determine what's resonating with our members. We look forward to hearing more and value your additional input! Cheers, KristinA 

[JohnS]

Good morning @ITgreybeard! We were able to share this idea and have discussion internally. We think it's a cool idea but it needs more support from the community before we consider exploring further. JohnS

[thedqs]

This is a great idea. Capital One 360 already has this in place and that is the only other one that I know of that does this.