Convenient, but How Secure?

[Commentary] According to a survey commissioned by the American Bankers Association last year, 62 percent of Americans preferred to do their banking online rather than at a branch or ATM. Banks and their online customers also lost more than $2 billion in 2010 because of payment card scams, fraudulent wire transfers and other Internet swindles, according to data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Regulators will need to push bankers to improve security, especially at community and regional banks whose systems lag far behind those at large multinational institutions. The safety instructions are guidelines — not make-or-break rules — that will figure among many others when regulators evaluate the general safety and soundness of banks’ operations. That may not be enough.