Generation Y employees of KPMG Australia have blasted their banks for having "too much security" which gets in the way of the user experience.

It is the second time that KPMG has surveyed its young employees for their views on banking.

Three years ago when the first survey was released, data privacy and fraud were "primary concerns" for young professionals.

But these now rank behind concerns around security that gets in the way of completing transactions.

"In our study, respondents went so far as to describe [security] as annoying, pointing to instances where they had forgotten their passwords and were unable to access their online banking," the KPMG report said.

The report suggests that banks invest in "invisible security" – effectively systems that "enhance risk management" and security "without compromising the customer experience". The report suggests investments in biometrics and "behavioural security" as possible options.

Australia's banks are starting to invest in these types of systems, albeit perhaps not to the speed that Gen Y customers expect.

Westpac's chief information security officer (CISO) Richard Johnson recently told a financial technology event that the bank was building "invisible controls" into online banking that would ultimately replace visible - but less user-friendly - controls.

"By doing analysis of individual behaviour deep inside our systems we can develop over time an understanding of what is a normal pattern of behaviour for a given customer," Johnson said.

"This means we are more readily able to spot what is unusual, aberrant or likely risky behaviour, and this means that we can reduce the frequency with which we need to ask our customers to enter SMS one-time passwords to authorise a transaction."

Social banking doesn't stack up

The survey also found that Gen Y prefer online channels for just about all aspects of banking.

The only ways to get them into a branch were to obtain a home loan or – in 47 percent of cases – to open a new account. Even then, some were not enamoured by the experience.

"I just applied for my first personal loan," one focus group participant said. "It was my first time going through the call centre and branches and it was actually quite frustrating."

However, KPMG was quick to point out that this should not kill investment in alternatives, such as the ability to secure home loans via a videoconference.

"Handholding might always be required," KPMG partner and head of financial services consulting Daniel Knoll said.

"Then again, the well utilised, fully digitised end-to-end mortgage process might be an innovation waiting to happen – something we end up using frequently despite the fact we never put our hand up for it."

For day-to-day banking, 51 percent of those surveyed wanted to do it online and another 47 percent by mobile. Similarly large percentages expected to be able to transact or change personal details via internet or mobile channels.

Where there was less enthusiasm was for social media to become a banking channel, with 70 percent of respondents saying they did not "foresee" themselves ever taking advantage of such services.

KPMG believed social media "may not be widely adopted as a banking platform in itself" but could be used by banks for customer service or insight, or – for example – to "enable integration with social contacts and mobile functionality to facilitate payments."