AVONDALE, Ariz.–A new study sponsored by Credit Union Journal and released today sheds light on the costs and challenges being felt by credit unions as they administer and support multi-factor authentication (MFA) and other authentication products and services. The study, conducted by Sestus Data Co., found that credit unions that implemented software certificates or software toolbar authentication methods experienced the greatest increase in support costs and the greatest decrease in online member activity. Credit unions that implemented virtual tokens experienced the smallest increase in support costs (less than 1%), and it was the only method that reported no decrease in online member activity.
The next best solution was geo-location solutions, with a reported 11.65% increase in support costs and 11.67% decrease in online activity.
So-called "challenge/response" and "secret image"solutions were the most widely deployed methods, but CUs deploying those solutions reported an average increase in support costs of 18.3% and a corresponding average decrease in online member activity of 16.77%.
