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Cahoot

Posted on 9 Apr 2008 at 14:58

www.cahoot.co.uk

Rating: 3/6

Cahoot, part of Abbey National, has a login system that features a mix of old-style username and security question, and asks you to select two characters from your password via drop-downs.

The last of these measures is also employed when you transfer money to another account. It isn't the most demanding security barrier, but it might be enough to keep keyloggers at bay.

The site's layout is functional at best, with a traditional entry snapshot screen providing an overview of your accounts and their balances. Navigation is straightforward, although occasionally illogical: there are two tiers of menu options, but the sub-menu is in the same font and style as its parent, so it's easy to get muddled.

Statements are viewable online but only date back a year, which is a little disappointing, although the drop-down list Cahoot employs makes it easy to view them. You can only see the statements in one-month clumps, though, and there's no option to export them to the likes of Money or Quicken.

Cahoot does boast a few innovative features. Alerts can be activated and set to arrive via email or text message, and are triggered when accounts fall below a certain amount, or payments are made exceeding a designated value. No extra charge is made for this service. There's a clear Activity Summary that you're invited to check before every logout. You can also order chequebooks, paying-in envelopes and there's a screen with tax deduction information. There's even an online option to stop cheques.

Cahoot also offers a webcard service for online shopping. This requires you to download a small application to your PC, which then generates a fresh credit card number for each transaction. However,a test run at movietyme.com resulted in card number failure.

Overall, Cahoot's service covers the basics with a smattering of novel services. Its web service is quick, works comfortably across a range of browsers and employs sufficient security without causing you too much inconvenience. But it would benefit from a redesign.

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