I was wondering how many members use internet banking. Last week I received a letter from the
Bank of Scotland saying that in future they are not sending me a monthly current account
statement but it will be quarterly.I imagine this will eventually become six monthly then annually.
The mini statements from ATMs don't show much detail and I like to see who's taking money from me ie Paypal , council tax etc so thinking about net banking. Just bothered about security , another
password to remember and these cockups when a bank employee leaves a disk with thousands of customers' details in a pub or a skip etc.
I use internet banking and I also have an app on my phone for banking.
I find them both very useful :thumbsup:
cheers John.
Been with First Direct from the early days and have now been a customer for 20+ years. I am happy to report that I had not had any problems to date with fraud or any malicious attempts on my accounts with them. Their service has been fantastic and the telephone response when needed - again 1st class. I still use their services even though I am in Australia full time.
On the other hand (five fingers and a thumb) since being in Australia both my wife and myself have had attempts made to use our credit details. The bank (National Australia Bank) spotted these attempts very quickly and no monies were lost, but it has made me wonder if things here aren't so secure out here :hmmm: :hmmm:
Thanks for posts, still pondering. I don't keep much money in my current account so any
fraud would be small, more concerned about personal details etc getting into wrong hands.
Will give it a thought. :hmmm:
Strangely enough a work colleague opened his bank statement at the teabreak and asked
"What's RENFE ?" I said it's the Spanish rail organisation. He had been charged about £800
by them. This was strange as he had never been to Spain and didn't use trains let alone Spanish ones. Also didn't bank on the net. Bank refunded his money but the mystery was never solved.
The usual things about keeping computers clean of viruses, insecure software etc apply but your details are probably more at risk at a motorway service station or a hotel.
The banks also try and spot fraudulent behaviour, and to use login schemes that mean grabbing one password isn't enough. Some of the better ones supply you with a "widget" which gives you a pass phrase as part of the login so that you need the code from the widget (which changes each time) as well as the data from the PC.
The idea being its easy to give a Windows PC a virus or trojan it and log all the data. It's a bit of a problem trying to then attack the widget.
Thanks for info EP.
Touch wood I've been internet banking for 15-20 years without a problem. A program I watched recently showed that the most common way personal details get into the wrong hands is by people chucking mail addressed to them in the bin. A few bins were gone through which held enough paper rubbish to easily steal some ones identity. Another common source is paying in retail outlets and cashpoints where your card is read and duplicated. Internet banking is no more risky. If someone wants to steal your identity they will but banks seem pretty good at refunding fraudulent transactions.
My only real brush with fraud was when the Signal Box in Rochester had its customer database compromised which included my card details. Ironically the fraudsters used my card to buy the top of the range Norton Anti Virus software!
Gareth
Quote from: trainsdownunder on March 09, 2014, 12:12:40 PM
Been with First Direct from the early days and have now been a customer for 20+ years. I am happy to report that I had not had any problems to date with fraud or any malicious attempts on my accounts with them. Their service has been fantastic and the telephone response when needed - again 1st class.
Same here. Been with First Direct ( who I
believe were the first non-branch based bank in the UK starting off as telephone banking, then internet) since they first started and still a happy customer :thumbsup: Never had a problem with security in all that time, and in fact find applying for things like loans or overdraft-extensions easier than with other banks :)
Quote from: EtchedPixels on March 09, 2014, 12:34:52 PM
The banks also try and spot fraudulent behaviour, and to use login schemes that mean grabbing one password isn't enough. Some of the better ones supply you with a "widget" which gives you a pass phrase as part of the login so that you need the code from the widget (which changes each time) as well as the data from the PC.
FD have recently introduced this added security to carry out certain transactions online such as set up new payment orders, but handily you don't need it to just check your balance or send payments to people already set up as destinations ;)
Paul
I too, have been with First Direct on Line Banking since it started, (the first in this country) and have had no problems. FD are a branch of HSBC.
In all those years twice my account was hit for something I didn't know about but before I noticed it First Direct rang me and told me what had happened and that they had closed the account and opened a new one having transferred all necessary funds, DD's and SO's. The was once when someone tried to use my FD Visa card fraudulently (online trader) and once again they did every thing before I even knew about it. All relevent cards were being renewed as they spoke to me.
As has already been said, the "secret" is to keep your O/S updates up to date along with having a good anti virus software and keeping that up to date too.
I use keepass to generate and store my passwords. You can drag and drop them from there into your web forms.
BoS have the second stage password which you enter with pull downs, presumably to defeat keyloggers.
I'm the same as Jack. Have been with First Direct since about 6 months after they launched.
They have never let me down at all.
I have also had a couple of questionable transaction happen on my account and like others, it was a phone call from FD that highlighted me to the issues which they immediately spotted and stopped. One of them was only for £10 - what FD called a test amount that someone put through to see if the account was live.
How on earth FD spotted it I've no idea.
They are the only bank I would recommend and as has been said, they are a separate part of HSBC which means you can pay in at any HSBC bank on the high street.
I have a business account with Lloyd's and they give you a widget that you have to plug your debit card into before you can access your account. My current account uses drop down selection of memorable information. When you set up a new recipient or transfer, they have an automated system of sending a text to your mobile with a code you need to enter. Since I worked abroad for the last 20 years, internet banking is a god send.
I use HSBC for everything including my business account, I rarely have paper printouts of my daily dealings, it is easier just to look on-line.
I am connected to Paypal as well and it just simplifies everything, and BOY do I need it simple!
Peter.
I remain a traditional bank user for no other reason that no-one has taken the monthly statement away - yet. Use Excel to manage our finances and never go into a bank. All they have there anyway is a row of machines that will only accept virtually ironed bank notes. Have always been able to recognise a pioneer as the man with a bum full of arrows. Just waiting for the rest of you to get the bugs sorted out.
I've been using Barclays bank online for about 3 years now and it's proven to be reliable and safe so far.... (Touch wood !)
I use a complicated password which I think makes it just that bit harder for anyone attempting a hack, and the fact I'm usually skint !!!
Thanks for all replies, will chew them over. I keep the minimum in my current a/c to meet direct debits etc so couldn't lose much if hacked into. :thankyousign:
On the subject of stealing data, being "old school" with my banking, I had no worries - I thought. Did not bank on (sorry) someone in the Royal Mail taking my printed bank statement and finding out where all my incomings came from and all my out goings went to. All the information they need is on the statements.
Hello - I have used Nationwide for many years and had no problems until last December when I noticed £100 had been paid to an organization called
Gumroad.com - an organization I had never heard of and certainly not carried out any transaction with them - I decided to contact Nationwide and have my card cancelled as a safeguard in case they tried to take more money - I eventually traced this company on the internet and managed to find an e-mail address for them - I contacted them and sent a message not really expecting to get a reply - to my surprise I did get a reply and they promised to refund me the cash (it was for some goods that I had apparently ordered from America -which I had not) - meanwhile Nationwide refunded the money through Visa pending their investigation - I have never found out how on earth Gumroad came to have my card details in the first place - but I was very impressed with the way that Nationwide dealt with this - I will continue to use Internet Banking
Clive Hughes
I noticed non regular payments going out of my bank account, 2 years ago not for very large ammounts, they were to a phone company who I have never heard of in Birmingham, I phoned my bank who put me through to the fraud department, they put a stop to my bank card and issued me with another, they even paid me my money back, it was a super service in which I am greatful.
I have had no problems with internet banking touch wood, and that is with the Halifax been with them for donkeys years but they do now charge me £10 a month for the account, does anyone else get charged for there bank account?
Nope, free banking with FD and a free automatic £250 overdraft facility to use if I want :)
Paul
I use internet banking as well, with no trouble. Apart from setting up my mortgage, I haven't been in a bank since the 90's!
Quote from: Sprintex on March 10, 2014, 07:11:14 AM
Nope, free banking with FD and a free automatic £250 overdraft facility to use if I want :)
Paul
To be fair FD grant banking services without charge providing you pay in a minimum amount each month, it used to be £1600 but I think its now £1000.
Oh and some of us have a free £500 overdraft facility if they need it. :P (not that I've ever used it!)
I'm pleased to read some very positive threads regarding internet banking but I notice that most (all ?) are from UK users. The situation down here in Africa is rather different.
The banks, some international and with UK connections, keep on adding or changing there "security" features with the aim of making internet transactions "more secure" for the user. What they are actually doing is making it more difficult for the user to demonstrate that the bank &/or criminal are responsible for an unauthorised transaction.
The banks will admit privately (and make increasing provisions in their annual statements) that they have internal employees in cahoots to steal their clients money. The cynics have suggested that their increasing provisions in the annual accounts are actually a tax scam because they rarely admit their own internal problem(s).
Down here it's not only the banks, we have the 'phone companies (VAS services), local government and now the road agency trying to access bank accounts with more problems. I'll give internet banking a big pass until we get an assurance of honest employees down here.
Rant over !
I use internet banking. I check my current account and debit card transactions every day to make sure there are no fraudulent transactions and keep an eye on my wife's spending.
Best regards,
Joe
Hi Bob
If there are problems with dishonest staff then surely having internet banking allows you to spot any problems much quicker?
I genuinely don't see how you are exposing yourself to more risk by having internet banking (caveat about usual internet security etc).
Cheers, Mike
Hi Red Death
The problem is that the banks (in particular) don't admit the problem. They are more interested in proving that it's the victim's fault and therefore they have no liability. With manual transactions there should be a paper trail and down here two signatures, the client and the bank teller / person.
Quote from: red_death on March 10, 2014, 06:29:55 PM
Hi Bob
If there are problems with dishonest staff then surely having internet banking allows you to spot any problems much quicker?
It does but the law is actually a problem in the UK and many other countries because for a cheque its up to the bank to prove you signed it, for a card the onus is on the bank likewise, for many other kinds of electronic payment/transfer it is not.
The banks also arranged a highly dubious deal with the police so that if you try and report bank fraud the police send you to talk to the bank and won't listen. The bank needless to say are not always quite so motivated to listen either.
Another problem to be wary of is that the credit card system is very good at tracing and clawing back money paid in error or misallocated. The electronic money transfer systems right now are not, so if you typo a transfer you may have trouble getting the money back.
For all its bad reputation in some areas paypal does actually have a lot of benefits for electronic payment over straight internet bank transfers (but not over cards so much)
It's interesting to note that the big rise in the cost of legal aid is not through lawyers earning more, nor through overcomplex cases - its all the legal aid being spent suing the bank over PPI etc.
Alan
I would love to do Internet banking but all my cash is spent on model trains so for me its a waste of time, the joys of living hand to mouth to trains :D :D :D