See-no-evil monkey. The Scream. Shades. Winky face.
Now, while this sequence might have you imagining a Tinder date had gone swimmingly, and that some lucky soul was iMessaging his way onto a second, this is actually just one of many potential future pin codes designed for ultra-secure online banking - where Emoji are being pitched as the perfect solution to your security woes.
Not that you should be that surprised. Considering the amount of emoji use in our day-to-day lives, coupled with a constant use of passwords on this same handheld technology, it was only an amount of time before someone provided an emoji answer to traditional numeric pin codes. So take a bow Intelligent Environments, the UK firm that has launched just that.
Related: You've Been Using Emoji Symbols Wrong And You Didn't Even Know
Targeting a young audience (15 and 25) and available on smaller banking sites, the tech is born from the scientifically held belief that people find it easier to remember images, while the makers also claim the tech is naturally more secure because there are 44 emoji’s as opposed to only 0-10 digits.
Additionally, the company’s managing director David Webber - who believes that the technology is unpatentable - claims his team are the first to use it in such a way and it will change the way big banks let customers access their accounts. Speaking to BBC News, he asked "why can't financial service be fun and innovative?”
Good question, Dave, and one which might see the tech teams of Barclays, HSBC scrambling to come across as cool brands themselves. We also imagine the same thinking could also be used to communicate with customers who receive statements over text message as it is.
After all, how better to stop people plummeting into their overdraft than by firing over a smattering of angry red faces? Genius.
[Via: BBC]
Latest
Related Reviews and Shortlists
