There's an App For That

I ditched Lloyds, then took up with Barclays. I had to ditch them for share trading, and I just about keep them for normal banking simply due to inertia. I leave as little money in there as possible.

But I still use a PIN sentry or whatever its called. On the desktop.

Phoning them up is useless. I present myself at a branch - if I can find one - to solve tougher issues.

And it might be getting worse. This is from a very recent post in comp.mobile.android:

"A recent update installed and activated the MS keyboard. The display is so tiny and faint that I switched back to Celia keyboard. But when I tried to access my mobile banking, I was refused entry because of a "security risk". I had to switch back to MS Swift. I left the Celia ticked, and now the bank app is ok and it uses the Celia.

WTF? I suppose that if it's happened to me, then it must have happened to many others. MS spying? Has anybody solved this problem?"

I would guess the thief would need to know your password etc. unless you are stupid enough to include it in the auto-fill facility.

I've never seen a banking app offer to save PIN/password, usually they can use biometrics instead

Are there any banks that don't use apps ? Because once a bank has an app, it's a pure waiting game till it's app-first then app-only

SWMBO had to sort out some account details with an old Halifax account. The only way was to go into a branch. Where the assistant guided her through installing the app and logging in to make the changes.

They hook into your devices security layer.

You could do online banking on a home computer, or a laptop you never take outside the home.

Or use a tablet at home (using the app if that's the only way).

Or an old smartphone that you put away in a drawer (if compatible with the app).

There is an issue with Amazon in that it keeps you logged in and only asks for your password if you want to change the settings. A thief could order something and somehow intercept the delivery. Best to log out of a portable device.

Often the problem with Apps is the screen size which is further reduced once a virtual keyboard has to be used. Also the hassle of 2 step verification that is sent to the same device.

Often these are set up to use finger print or facial recognition. If these fail they fall back to "traditional" security. You usually can't use the autofill as they request individual letters from a pin or passcode. They have short time outs so even if the app is open you need to re-verify your id.

Dave

I would bet there are some banks who don't offer internet - only app - banking. Revolut for a start.

A lot of those I looked at only offer Internet banking via their app (i.e. not on a computer), it seems to be increasingly common.

Not-a-real-bank: "Powered by Clearbank"

Not true, see:-

Anyone know whether the EU's proposed Chat Control includes encrypted communications from banking apps?

The real probelm is that ever vendor +dog has their own way of doing it. Meaning that it is s*it 95% of the time.

The casual lack of integration with password managers (although this is also a feature of Google and Apple strangling anything they do not make) is also a killer for a lot of accessibility features.

Needs the phone app to get access or create an account. Still does not have banking licence in UK. Worth having for travel.

Dave

Yes.

Yes, you need the app to get started but once done it's web based.