Feeling Too Secure

I like Ingdirect. They pay me interest. But their efforts to make me feel "secure" have me a little freaked out. At first, all I needed to do in order to log-in was to type my moniker and give a code number I selected myself (at least, that's all I remember having to do). Slowly, they have increased the complexity of their demands. They have given me an account number I have to look up every time, since it's so long. I also have to be able to answer one random question (e.g. "what are the first three digits of your social security number?"). Now, they've added a feature so that every time I try to login from a different computer, I will have to answer _five_ questions (such as what school I attended, the name of my first pet, etc.)! Finally, So that I feel "secure" and know I have logged on at the right site, I will see an image and phrase of my choice. (I guess it's so that I don't accidentally give my personal information for some website pretending to be Ingdirect.) I guess all these precautions are nice, but ... I don't know. It's kind of like when Great Starts breakfasts (frozen meals with sausage, hash browns, and scrambled eggs) started advertising, "made with real eggs." You're supposed to feel re-assured, but really, what you start thinking is, "I always just assumed they were 'real' eggs. Hey! Why don't they say 'made with real pig?' Oh no!" Similarly, I can't help but get rather worried that ingdirect is doing all these things to make me feel secure. Was there some scandal in which they gave away customer code numbers, and they're trying to fix their image as "reliable" and "secure?" What if they come up with so many questions that even I won't be able to figure out how to login successfully?

Still, I have to say that the "image and your own phrase" idea is pretty neat. Not so much because it's reassuring, but because, if you give the matter sufficient thought, it can be rather entertaining. For instance, you could pick an ugly animal image, and your phrase could be, "My Aunt Bertha." In my case, I chose the image above, along with the phrase "Beowulf." If you would like to know why, see this article. I can't really "recommend" the article in the sense of agreeing with anything that it says, but I do find the logical leaps amusing.

P.S.-would you like to have your own image and phrase at ingdirect? Would you like to deposit $250, get $25 bonus, have a savings account for which there is no minimum, have an interest rate of 4.4%, and earn Leopoldtulip $10? Just send an email to Leopoldtulip@yahoo.com, and he can recommend you (you don't get the $25 unless you're recommended by someone). Kidding aside, Ingdirect has done a fine job of giving me money over the years. It's a great service, and they support dinosaurs.