Egg's aggregation site aggravates high-street rivals

Egg has come under attack from its high-street rivals over a new service that offers customers a single sign-on to multiple online accounts.

The one-stop shop service, dubbed Egg Money Manager, allows customers with more than one online bank account to access all their financial information on one web page and under a single password.

Customers will receive software which encrypts their personal security details and stores it on their home computer.

Users can then log on to several bank accounts, held by a number of different banks, in a single step.

Egg has said it will guarantee insurance cover on all Egg and non-Egg accounts in the event of online fraud. However this assurance is not enough for HBOS, the banking group behind Halifax, Intelligent Finance (IF) and the Bank of Scotland.

HBOS has slammed the initiative, claiming it breaches the voluntary guidelines laid down by banking watchdog the Association of Payment and Clearing Services (APACS).

The guidelines require companies setting up aggregation services to contact third parties for permission to use data and a chance to review security protocols.

HBOS claimed it did not give permission for its customer data to be used, and it has not been given a chance to review the security software.

A spokeswoman for the bank told silicon.com: "We are disappointed that it does not meet APACS guidelines. We recommend our customers do not use it until we do security checks."

A spokeswoman for the Royal Bank of Scotland said the bank was also concerned over the security of the service.

Andy Thompson, Egg's director of new product development, admitted the service did not meet APACS guidelines, which he said Egg found unacceptable, but he stressed that Egg was not legally required to obtain permission to use the data.

All banks involved had been given an opportunity to voice their concerns in February but HBOS and the Royal Bank of Scotland had failed to do so, he said.

"We're disappointed they've made these comments. We've planned this service for a year and a half and we're not going to hold back just because the big four don't agree."

Big banks such as HBOS were not in tune with Egg's consumer approach to banking, he added.

Other financial institutions involved in the service include internet banks Smile, Cahoot and IF, and high-street banks Abbey National, Barclays and Lloyds.

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