smile card reader

realaledrinker

JoseChungsDoomsday wrote: »

hmm, haven't got mine yet... but then that doesn't shock me with smile

Being rolled out progressively. 08-90-00 Manchester & Staff accounts being addressed first. Not sure how smile customers have been included at this stage. Maybe SparciaM is still using his old staff account. Seem to remember him slagging off smile & saying he had left for FD some time back!!

SparciaM

My account number is 089287. Maybe it is because I was staff many years ago, I dunno. I did close down my staff account years ago though.

I use smile on my phone when out and about. They may not support mobile banking, but I have full internet access on my phone so no problems there.

7sefton

SparciaM wrote: »

My account number is 089287. Maybe it is because I was staff many years ago, I dunno. I did close down my staff account years ago though.

I think you'll find that sort code is specifically for smile student accounts. When you enter the sort code into some computers the 'branch address' actually comes up as 'Smile Student, Delf House.... etc'

SparciaM

That's correct, I have a smile student account

sigur

I have now become extremely frustrated with this card reader malarkey.

[Deleted User]

I have had to use the card reader 3 times so far and all when I was simply transferring money from my current account to smile visa, something I have done hundreds of times. The upside is that I am getting used to using the reader. The downside is that it is time consuming and also hard to read the numbers on the reader.

I think it is a step too far, surely smile could ring fence known recipients, like their own visa

iRadiate

Just had my first experience with these card readers.
Needed to change a standing order which would normally take a couple of minutes.
Instead my wife and I spent about 20 minutes trying to get this thing to work without success. I'm an IT Consultant and am not unfamiliar with technology and the internet and online shopping/banking etc yet we could not get the damn thing to work even when following the instructions to the letter.

Eventually the account got locked out and we had to call the 0870 number to unlock the account.
To our surprise we were told that we had to next visit an ATM where we would apparently be given an option to unlock/reset the pin number or something. This is supposed to be ONLINE BANKING for pete's sake

Whilst on the phone we got the guy to set the standing order up thus bypassing the card reader. So where's the security in that ?

How many criminals are there out there that hack into peoples accounts and set up a traceable standing order or direct debit ?
How many criminals hack into an account and transfer money to their own account (again a traceable activity).

How will these card readers prevent the cashiers in Shell Petrol stations from cloning my card and using it abroad (something that has now happened to me twice)

The card reader is a complete waste of time and offers absolutely no additional security to the end user.

I've been with Smile since they first started and will soon be closing my account.

billbob

As a customer of the coop bank (owner of smile) I agree that their readers are over the top. It seems stupid to have to use one to transfer money between accounts held at the same bank.

Have people sent their feedback to smile and coop about the readers? The smile website has a feedback box where you can tell them what you think. Hopefully if they get enough feedback they will make the system more customer friendly.

Jake'sGran

Yes, Billbob, I have had a go at them and said I would be looking for a new current account but am loath to do it as I have been with them for so many years and all the family have Co-op accounts of one kind or another. Strange thing is, my husband also has a Smile account but he has not been sent a card reader. The rates are very poor so there is never much of a balance so maybe I would be better with a new current account somewhere.

Extant

It's not unreasonable for transfers between accounts within the bank at all.

Large amounts of fraudsters will use hijacked accounts - "unwitting beneficiaries" - to receive funds. They have complete control over these accounts, sufficient to pass through a bank's ID procedures, and then use these accounts to withdraw the funds, or pass them on to another destination.

Considering that transfers outside of Smile/The Co-operative Bank take three days*, they are likely much more vulnerable to this style of attack.

The minute your account is "attacked," the fastest the bank can act is the time it takes you to notice it. This time is likely to be the same whether it's interbank or intrabank, so it's perfectly reasonable to ask for the same level of security for both methods.

*Yes I know they have some FPS abilities, but not for the amount the average fraudster of this level is interested in.