That is intended to help prevent hijacked accounts, but it is also intended to keep a banned fraudster from opening a new account from the same computer - a common problem.

I have had to go through that "verification" process when my computer was down and I had to use the public library's computer for banking. They sent a code to my e-mail address, and I was able to unlock the public computer temporarily to allow full access. I had to repeat the process each day. With safety comes inconvenience (ask anyone who flies regularly!)