Ever had your Halifax online access suspended? What now?

Mikeyorks

tony1947 wrote: »

If this is a new bit of security technology

It's been in place around 18 months. A number of threads around the early few months regarding mysterious messages when logging in from an 'alien' PC ........... but this is the first I've seen in months.

Mikeyorks

bobblebob wrote: »

So do Halifax log the IP address used to login and block any attempts to log in with different IPs?

Yes they acquire the 'usual' IP address. But I suspect they've taken to acquiring 'usual' in the plural - judging by the reduction in this type of thread. If you Login via something they consider 'out of the usual' pattern they will intercept the Login with an invite to select one of your provided telephone numbers ...... and you get an automated call. Somewhere in that process you're provided with a Code you need to enter.

No telephone number / no answer to the call / incorrect code etc = blocked access.

But if you respond successfully - I suspect that address is now being added to the list.

Mrs_Ryan

tony1947 wrote: »

I suspect there are thousands, nay hundreds of thousands of marriages/relationships where one person controls all the family accounts for tax/best interest/etc,etc and the partner is more than happy to let them. I have lost count of the number of times where we have phoned financial institutions where my wifes first words after the security questions are "could you speak to my husband"

Snap - except its the other way round in my house. OH has a mental health problem and struggles to deal with a lot of things so I run his account for him - if we have to ring up he always asks first if they can speak to me. Hes more than happy to allow me to do this as I used to work for a bank and know what to do whereas he has a tendency to panic - when the Santander system went down he immediately said his card had been cloned as it wouldnt work - I didnt bat an eyelid as I knew the systems were down and funnily enough the girl on the phone confirmed it.
Also Mum controls all her and Dad's finances - they have a joint account but Mum runs it and all bills etc are in her name alone.

Malory

So in a household where one person manages all of the accounts of the couple, what happens when the "manager", leaves the relationship, becomes incapacitated or dies?

I keep track of the household budget and keep an eye on our joint bank account, because I'm better at that sort of thing, but my husband and I also each have our own bank accounts which me manage ourselves. I do keep him informed of how we are managing with the budget, so he knows when, and how, he needs to restrict his spending. We make big spending decisions jointly.

Letting your other half drift through life without having a clue about their own finances is doing them a disservice.

Particularly husbands who take care of all of their wives' finances when their wives are likely to outlive them.

tony1947

Malory wrote: »

So in a household where one person manages all of the accounts of the couple, what happens when the "manager", leaves the relationship, becomes incapacitated or dies?

I think we are going off thread from the OP but its interesting all the same.

I learned a long time ago never to judge others relationships by my own view of what's normal. I provide my wife with a password protected Excel spreadsheet which has all our investments / bank accounts and current values of each. Each account has a URL to the online login page and the appropriate password and security details. Every time I change anything I put an updated memory stick in the safe and email her the latest version.

To the best of my knowledge she has never looked at any of them. I don't find this strange as I am in a trusting marriage and she isn't interested and I am.

To turn the quote around, what am I going to do if I am ever on my own? My wife has every Good Food magazine since 1998 and she loves to shop, prepare and serve meals, she would shoot me if I went near the cooker.

Each to their own is the motto, I don't think it's doing anyone a disservice by volunteering to do some element of a relationship and if you go through life expecting your partner to leave I expect one day they will.

claire07

Just to provide another reply from the female perspective. I too do all the finances and deal with all our accounts as OH can't be bothered and we also have the same scenario of him dialling firms and going through security questions and then passing phone to me. It's just that I like paperwork and he hates it. It just annoys me sometimes when I'm trying to sort out a problem with one of his accounts and have to wait for him to return to make the initial phone contact!

mr_fishbulb

Mikeyorks wrote: »

The blocked access is almost certainly due to accessing the account via a different PC to the usual.

I wouldn't tend to agree with that. IP addresses change all the time for internet connections, as do where people access their internet banking from (home, work, starbucks [you shouldn't but people do]).

I'd say it's more likely what you are trying to do with the account. I've had the same blocking happen to me when I set up 2 new bill payments, put a pound or so through both, and then tried to put £500 through one of them. Account was blocked as this is the sort of activity you would expect to see from someone trying to pinch money from my account.

stevied19

I have a Halifax Savings account and I wanted to transfer some money out to a different bank. In order to do this I had to open up a current account, which I don't really need but never mind. However, one week later this new account now has the status of "Enquiry only", so I cannot transfer any money. I have spoken to Halifax over the phone and to get full access I need to take ID documents to a local branch. Frustrating and time consuming obviously, but also impossible for me to do as I am currently working in Japan. I was back home for Christmas and New Year, so I am not sure when I will be home again this year. I have spoken to Halifax at length over the past few days, and get passed around to various people but no solution is forthcoming. My last call was the most exasperating as I was told the only way to reinstate was to visit the branch with suitable identification. Anyone overcome a similar problem or have any suggestions? Thanks!

pocket_version

Halifax online banking monitor your usual IP's, this means if you do your banking on a regular basis from home, work, and your local fave coffee shop. they will recognise this, however if you log in from an unusual location and they deem it to suspicious they will lock down your account for security reasons.

As for being asked to present id at the branch, this too is for security reasons. It sounds like you failed security over the phone. The fact that you opened a new bank account and instantly wanted to transfer money overseas probably triggered alarms with their security too.

At the end of the day, would you prefer fraudsters try to access your account and your bank do nothing?

stevied19

PV, thank you for the reply. Your remarks are sensible but in my case I didn't fail the over-the-phone security, and had managed to transfer some money out of my account a few days before access was restricted. I appreciate security but need a solution to my predicament as I have to access the savings to pay a future credit card bill. Thanks!