In June 2007 the New Bankers Association presented a new Code of Practice that tried to shift liability to consumers. I cannot really express it any other way other than to say it was a piece of crap.

However after some heavy criticism, as of today the new Code of Practice makes some remedy towards that, not only does it stop Banks from having the right to seize and inspect the consumers PC, but it also means consumers are covered when they believe they are acting responsibly.

It isn’t really a big surprise, given that some of the major banks later tried to distance themselves from the old minimum standards, and instead guaranteed customers they would be protected.

The new wording includes :

You may be liable if an Unauthorised Transaction occurs after you have received the means to access Internet Banking, if for example, (but not limited to) you have breached our terms and conditions by doing the following:-

• you have used a computer or device that you know or believe does not have protective software and operating system installed and reasonably up to date;
• you have not taken reasonable steps to ensure that the protective systems installed on your computer or device such as virus scanning, firewall, anti-spyware, operating system and anti-spam software are continued to be updated within a reasonable period of time;
• you have not followed our reasonable security warnings about the processes and safeguards to follow when using Internet Banking.