HSBC secure key

canny_lass_2

It can be confusing when you bank with more than one provider. I use my Barclay's account more online because I find their online system easier to use than HSBC.

Gromitt

anotheruser wrote: »

Huh? Are you suggesting I can use the Nationwide card reader with a Halifax account?

I don't think Halifax use a card reader, but yes, Barclays "PIN Sentry" works well with Nationwide and Co-Op, and its very useful to check I've remembered my PIN correctly with my credit cards - better to lock up the card at home or in the car than whilst standing in a store!

I keep the Barclays one at home, the Co-op one in the car, and the Nationwide one at work. All interchangeable.

ic

I wish the card reader (I have one from the coop) doubled up as a calculator - it has all the buttons, would be useful!

anotheruser

Hominu wrote: »

Exactly how is it synced with the HSBC website, considering it has no access to the HSBC website? So it must have its own internal clock, so if that fails, you can't login to your bank account? Excellent idea.

Erm... obviously both the website and Secure Key are synced somewhere otherwise the website wouldn't know what digits the secure key displays to allow you to log in.

xylophone wrote: »

Replace the phone?

Replacing the phone, yes, very good. But it doesn't help in the right here right now when I need to do some sort of internet banking.
Mishaps with phones happen all the time and taking your sim out to put in another phone isn't really an acceptable alternative in my opinion.

spenderdave

The key contains an internal clock that is synchronised to a similar clock on the website. It generates a code based on the time, the serial number of the key, and other information. The system allows for drift in the key clock and will allow input of a code either side of the correct one, at which point the clocks are synchronised again. There is no link from the key to the website, only your fingers typing in the code.

Gromitt

anotheruser wrote: »

Erm... obviously both the website and Secure Key are synced somewhere otherwise the website wouldn't know what digits the secure key displays to allow you to log in.

I've played with such a key and its a very rough approximation of the time - the secure key can be upto 2 minutes out and it'll still generate the correct key as rather than comparing with an absolute match, any code in a list of allowable codes will work. This also gives the website the ability to resynchronise itself with the secure key, so if you then enter a code which corresponds to an earlier time, the website will know its not valid (and may throw an internal security flag if it receives too many such numbers)

anotheruser wrote: »

Replacing the phone, yes, very good. But it doesn't help in the right here right now when I need to do some sort of internet banking.

and if your secure key fails, it doesn't help that you can ring up and request another one if you need to conduct some internet banking.

Replacing the phone is going to be easier than replacing the secure key. I don't know about you, but I have several phones lying around which will accept my sim card and also my landline registered just in case. I know what your going to say, what happens if my sim card stopped working whilst I was in the desert. Very good question, but I think it would be the same problem getting a new secure key delivered to the desert.