[Closed] Help, I need a less secure Current Account.

Nationwide still uses a card reader (they're looking to get rid of it, as I think you're the only person in the world that still wants one, but hey...)

*EDIT - and knowing Nationwide, once they do have an option to do without it, they'll make sure they have some other form of authentication that doesn't require a smartphone, for people who don't have smartphones.

ha.

I just don't want a smart phone, my mental,thumb and neck health is far superior without one!

It doesn't have to be a card reader solution

Whenever I've paid recently and it has required app approval it has also given the option to authenticate in another way (usually a code via text message).

ah thats interesting, who is that with frogstomp?

RBS is just like "you needs a smart phone innit grandad"

Genuinely, Nationwide (and not just cos I work for them).

As above, I have a nationwide current account, and it asks me if I want to use the app or recieve a code by text message whenever I pay for anything.

Genuinely, Nationwide (and not just cos I work for them).

Ah sorry I was reading it as yo'll get a card reader then it will all be over and you'll be in the smae boat, do they do the text approvally thing?

ah thats interesting, who is that with frogstomp?

Halifax. Could change in future though - may well just be during a transition period I guess..?

which Ads just answered... cool cheers guys

Suck a dick RBS

First Direct have an option to have a separate 2FA device, just a little number pad, you put in your PIN and it generates a code. Their name for it is Physical Secure Key.

Why not just get a smartphone, there are hundreds more good reasons for having one above just accessing your bank account, and things are only going to get more reliant on them not less.

Nationwide will use a mixture of both SMS and a card reader for authentication and approvals (some you have a choice - some you'll need a card reader). All of this assumes you have a computer and web browser which of course you should take care is secure (as in patched / updated), has an up to date AV / security program and is not running randomly downloaded software from untrusted sources.

HSBC too have the option to use a Physical Secure Key, a little card-shaped device with a keypad and an LCD display, instead of using the app for a secure code. You can only have one or the other, so once you register the app you can't go back, but that doesn't sound like it will be a problem for you!

OP - I have no intention to go back to a smart phone

STW - Why not just get a smartphone?

I agree, but that's just so very STW!

I have a NatWest account. They sent me a thing that I put my debit card into and it uses that to prove that I'm for real.

I don't have an app on my phone.

Why not just get a smartphone, there are hundreds more good reasons for having one above just accessing your bank account, and things are only going to get more reliant on them not less.

because after what 15 years or so of having them i found not having one made me considerably happier? To be clear, I'm not anti smart phone, they're amazing things, they have many usefull qualities.

I can't think of one reason* to have one let alone 100. I have a dumb phone with 4g, whatsapp and google maps. literally all my regular uses are covered. Its less user friendly perhaps but I have increased calling people and talking properly and its ace.

*other than for banking but eveidently thats not necessary with a fair few bankaccounts so if i can choose a business that provides the service i want I'll choose that?

M&S sent me a card reader thingy because I'm an additional card holder on my wife's account, only problem is to activate it I have to call their offshore customer service centre. I now use my Halifax card for all my online and in-store purchases over £100 because the smartphone app is so easy to use with finger print ID and they have UK based customer services that speak english as a first language.

I have a dumb phone with 4g, whatsapp and google maps.

What is it? Sounds like a smart phone to me!? 😕

I hear what you are saying about a smartphone, but if I were in that position I'd get a smartphone and knobble it so it can't do much else. Just WhatsApp, maps... and banking. Then you can choose you bank. FWIW I have a 2fa device with First Direct but mean to move to app as 2fa is a pain especially if you have to start carrying it around.

The Physical Secure Key is the same for HSBC, First Direct and M&S, as they are all HSBC in the background - except that M&S don't do personal banking in the UK any more, or that's what they told me last year when they forced me to close my account.

FWIW I have a 2fa device with First Direct but mean to move to app as 2fa is a pain especially if you have to start carrying it around

I asked First Direct for the device, as I didn't feel their Digital Secure Key was adequately secure. It uses the same app and the same 6 character 'password' as their phone banking. If your phone is hacked, all the info to access your money is there.

What is it? Sounds like a smart phone to me!? 😕

Nokia 6300 4G

runs some obscure nokia OS with very limited appage, while it does the things i listed its hassle enough to use that I only use it when I need to use it. It has button and everything and its tiny. Every so often I forget about the buttons and wonder why the keypad doesn't come on the screen.

Greybeard, one of the main reasons i'm annoyed that RBS only use the bank is that it seems pretty daft to be able to pay and approve on the same app with but a finger print.

What do you want this bank account to do?

If you're using Internet banking then be aware that SMS-based 2FA is inherently insecure compared with an app-based solution.

My mum has had a bank account longer than I've been alive and has never had an Internet connection or a phone with any Gs on it let alone 4. I -think- she's with Halifax.

See above Cougar,

Perhapps "very light" smart phone would be more descriptive.

(sorry, edited, your reply arrived whilst I was typing mine so I deleted it.)

Co-op bank do text authentification

Lloyds Classic haven't forced an app or device onto me yet, text auth for purchases over £200 I think. I suspect more pressure might apply for new accounts though.

Both my accounts that require app verification (Halifax, Virgin Money) offer 2FA in other ways too, eg a text message or phone call.

Neither company precludes you from having or using an account by not having a smartphone.

Sounds to me like the best solution here is a old PAYG smartphone kept turned off and in a drawer. Treat it as your own 2FA device, an alternative to a card reader. You may well sort out this bank issue but something else will come up sooner enough causing a similar issue.

Can't you just post them a cheque or something?

Lloyd's just send text codes as well as password and x letters from your magic set of letters and numbers.
When setting up a new payee on internet banking it rings you up and the magic voice asks you to type in the number on the screen. It even gives you the option of ringing the house phone so you don't even have to find your mobile if you don't want to!
Works for me so far.
Edit: also posting cheques or paying them in at the post office round the corner works fine. Sometimes much less hassle than all those passwords.

As above, I have a nationwide current account, and it asks me if I want to use the app or recieve a code by text message whenever I pay for anything.

By "anything", do you mean in store purchases as well as on-line purchases?

If so, I'm confused/concerned...

I have a very old Nationwide FlexAccount with a few hundred quid in it and I now live in Canada but am returning to the UK for a holiday soon.

Does that mean I need to carry the stupid little pin pad device around with me if I want to pay for coffee and cakes when I'm out riding my bike?

(2FA via SMS will probably freak Nationwide out as I won't be using the phone number they have in file <my Canadian number> as I'll be buying a UK SIM card on arrival....)

I've got accounts with both Coop / Smile and Santander - both do 2FA with a text message rather than needing anything app based on a phone, neither need a card reader.

App based authentication is more secure - hijacking someone's mobile phone number is pretty easy and banks are quite rightly going to want to guard against that even if you don't want to,  so switching accounts will only help you avoid the march of progress for so long.

If you want to eschew modern conveniences you're going to have to accept that its going to be inconvenient I guess.

Does that mean I need to carry the stupid little pin pad device around with me if I want to pay for coffee and cakes when I’m out riding my bike?

No, chip and pin as normal as in what we were doing a decade before the americas caught on 😀

No, chip and pin as normal as in what we were doing a decade before the americas caught on 😀

Oh, thank gawd!

(BTW: are boozers still cash only?? Apart from an outdoor gig last week, I've never needed cash at a pub/restaurant in the 15 years I've been in Canada...)

No, plenty of pubs are now cashless, particularly in London. I can't remember the last time I went into a pub that didn't take cards.

Only time I ever use cash now is the barber, where it seems to be a universal truth that they all only accept cash. Can't think why...

+another for Nationwide though, I'm actually surprised that any bike is entirely mandating smart phones with no alternative, that seems pretty insane.

(2FA via SMS will probably freak Nationwide out as I won’t be using the phone number they have in file <my Canadian number> as I’ll be buying a UK SIM card on arrival….)

If you’re SIM swapping, it’s worth making sure any useful accounts you might need access to whilst away are app-enabled rather than SMS, for any authorisation stuff.

both do 2FA with a text message rather than needing anything app based on a phone, neither need a card reader.

App based authentication is more secure – hijacking someone’s mobile phone number is pretty easy

True. But moreover, it's the work of seconds for a scrote to pull the SIM out of a locked stolen phone and stick it into an unlocked one to receive a code, no l33t skillz required.

If one were doing it on the stealth, one could hop the SIM across, generate the OTP code, swap the card straight back and the owner would be none the wiser.

Hypothetically.

Are boozers still cash only??

Cash-only places are increasingly rare, and post-covid many places are the other way around and are 'card' only now.

I don't carry cash at all these days aside from an emergency tenner and the last time I had to break that was probably a corner shop somewhere with a "minimum card transaction £5" rule when I wanted to buy a Mars bar.

chip and pin as normal

How very ten years ago of you.

I can't remember the last time I needed a card or a PIN. Contactless on Google / Apple payment works up to £45 on a locked phone and a couple of hundred on an unlocked one.

I can’t remember the last time I needed a card or a PIN. Contactless on Google / Apple payment works up to £45 on a locked phone and a couple of hundred on an unlocked one.

I'm a clumsy mountain biker. My phone is protected from my clumsiness in a nice thick protective case. I tried Google Pay once and vowed never to bother trying again...😉

I'm in a similar situation to you Mark - i'll be visiting and will need to inform my English bank via their website that i'll be in the country and spending otherwise they'll probably 'think' something's strange and shut the account down, especially as my phone number won't register. I'll probably update the contact details for the few weeks i'm there.

... or use Travellers Cheques.

How very ten years ago of you.

jesus i'm really painting myself as a luddite here aren't I 🙂 i didn't even think to differentiate between chip and pin and contactless I just mean use your card as usual. When I had a smart phone with nfc i'd used it occassionally for payment i reckon cards are more convenient though especially when you are a serial battery flaterner.

For reference I'm 37, i own a robot hoover, I'm not against technology of any kind. I shop online 80% of the time*, i try to be supportive of independant businesses etc rather than amazon. amazon and google pay plus paypal covers nearly all my payment needs without approval needed.

I just don't want a smart (er then the one i have) phone at the moment. and that causes some very minor hassle on the occasion i need to add a payee on a bank account. The irony being ofcourse that the only time i ever need to do that is for a payment to another financial institution so hardly a risky undertaking.

*I do like going into shops though, i like person to person interaction i'm just lazy 😀

I’m 37, i own a robot hoover,

Is that on your Tinder/Grindr profile?

Do you want it to be?