Canadians bank online

Consumer adoption of Web banking has been a major success story in Canada, leading some to wonder if that success can be duplicated south of the border, particularly among Canadian banks with retail operations in the US, reports American Banker.

There are many differences in the markets, but there's also a commitment among the likes of Toronto Dominion Bank, through its TD Bank subsidiary based in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and Bank of Montreal, through its Chicago-based Harris Bank subsidiary, to share best practices across the border.

Last quarter the Canadian Bankers Association released a study that found for the first time a majority of Canadians, 53%, bank online.

Barclays is offering a free security download to customers who log into their bank accounts on their smartphones, writes the UK's PC Advisor.

The move to offer Kaspersky Mobile Security software follows a decision last July by the bank to provide customers logging in on their PCs with Kaspersky Internet Security for free.

The mobile security software can be easily installed on Web-enabled phones, Barclays said.

The toxic combination of a weak economy and a widespread banking crisis is offering an opening for criminals who operate online to steal valuable financial information, says Business Week.

Cyber-crime was up 53% in 2008, according to a report by security consultant McAfee. Says Nikos Passas, a professor at Northeastern University, who specialises in organised crime: "With rising unemployment and a deepening recession, you have a growing number of desperate people."

It's yet another blow to banks and financial firms, which bear the brunt of the cost of online attacks.