My U.S. bank recently made me change my password when I logged in. They even made me use “special characters” in the passwords, like # ” % &, to make sure it was secure. Annoying, but no big deal. I’ll put it with it. I understand why they’re trying to do this.

Next, though, they crossed the line from to annoying to downright hit-the-screen-in-frustration. They resorted to making me answer questions that I’ll need to answer if I forget my password. If they could have stuck to simple factual personal questions, like my mother’s maiden name, my date of birth, or my phone number, then no problem at all. But they didn’t:

The make of my first car might seem like a simple factual question. Mine was a Honda Civic. But what if next time I just type “Honda” or “honda civic”? You very quickly move to a place where you can’t answer your own validation questions.

The next set of questions are even worse — they ask questions that sound like they’re geared for a 5 year old. And I have to choose one of these!

I don’t have a favorite person, nor a childhood hero, nor a favorite athlete! And if I force myself to choose an answer, will I remember it next time? Will I remember how I spelled it?

These validation questions drive me mad. I just know I’ll mess up when trying to answer them in a month or two. They don’t validate my identity, they just validate that the web app stinks.

If banks can’t rely on the usual we’ll email-your-password-to-you-if-you-forget-it because it’s not secure enough, surely there has to be a better way.

Neither AIB nor Bank of Ireland have forgot-your-password feature. That seems a better route. I’d much rather just have to ring the bank then be forced to answer these ridiculous questions.

Good validation questions?

Any thoughts on what are better solutions for validation questions that are secure enough for banks? What’s wrong with just sticking to the basic facts, like DOB, PPS number, and home phone number?