Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions her Department has had with stakeholders in the banking sector on the use of a birthplace as an (a) online and (b) telephone security question.

Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) in the Payment Services Regulations 2017 sets out the requirements which firms must follow when customers are accessing their payment accounts online, including the use of two-factor authentication to verify a customer’s identity. However, the specific questions firms should use to authenticate a customer’s identity are not prescribed, which is a matter for individual firms.

Therefore, the Government has not had discussions with banking stakeholders on the specific uses of first school attended, mother’s maiden name, pet’s name or birthplace as online banking or telephone security questions.