I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard that members or clients didn’t want to log in to access their accounts. And I wish I also had a dollar for every time someone complained that they didn’t want to create a profile in order to create an account so that they could login in the future. I’d be rolling in it by now and probably wouldn’t need to work, much as I love my job.

In this day and age, I’m constantly astounded by the number of people who must never use the internet to do anything in their lives. Try booking a flight on Air New Zealand (or any airline for that matter); try doing on-line banking (there are so few banks left you won’t be able to transact with them in any other way soon), book tickets for a movie, check your loyalty programme points or redeem them, list or buy an item on Trade Me, register for Uber or Uber Eats, book a table at most restaurants, check your health records, communicate with the IRD and most other government agencies, make any changes or upgrades on your computer or mobile phone, use your email account or any social media applications, book accommodation, buy anything online, check your KiwiSaver performance, or renew your passport without having to have a valid profile so that you can log in with your user name (usually email address) and password. Even tracking a parcel or finding a lost pet requires a login process.

It’s pretty near impossible to do anything these days that isn’t online or requires some form of proof of identity, profile or account details in order to proceed. And don’t get me started on transacting in any area that comes under the anti-human Anti Money Laundering Act!

We’ve entered an age of robots whether we like it or not. Everything will be automated soon in the drive to become more efficient. There’s no point in trying to be King Canute and turn back the waves - resistance to these changes really is futile.

We all know that security in everything we do these days is paramount, especially anything involving electronic transactions, whether it’s money or information that’s at stake. So why do users of online membership (or purchasing) systems seem to think they shouldn’t have to log in to participate?

We know of a few organisations who think their members shouldn’t have to login to register to attend an event or to change their details, and some who think creating a profile might be too taxing for their members or clients to do. Really?

Is the problem really with the users (who in reality must be well-used to doing this in order to have any sort of life) or is it that the administrators of the organisations just think it might be too hard to get people to do it? It’s great that organisations want to make things as easy as possible for their customers to transact with them – I’m all for that – but in today’s wired world with so many online security issues, it’s essential that protocols are followed, whether we like it or not. Afterall these protocols have been created to protect us, not hinder us.

MoST is a robust and secure client management system that works with the same disciplines, rules and protocols of every other client management system, so why the resistance? Is it a generational thing where one assumes older people will find it too hard to do? Nope, our experience shows that seniors can be as savvy as anyone when it comes to using technology. Is it that the actual process is too difficult? Nope, we know it’s really similar to every other login system in the world, though we haven’t resorted to using the pupil of one’s eye or a DNA swab, yet. We know that remembering your password isn’t that difficult either, especially when so many people use ‘12345’ or ‘password’, or worse, as their password for pretty much everything, so that shouldn’t be too hard to recall. Password Managers can help with storing passwords, though you have to login to those too! Most people seem to be able to remember their email address, though knowing their mobile phone numbers can prove to be a little harder for some…

I’d love to know what the problem is. Any thoughts? It has to be a perception issue, doesn’t it? Hopefully it’s just a matter of educating the last luddites that they’ll miss out if they don’t get over it soon.

If you’d like to talk to us about any of this please contact us@expert.services