Wonga are now asking for online banking login details "to verify" applications

Apples2

gemgemz wrote: »

Then I rang my friend who I know got a payday loan a few weeks ago after an unforeseen addition to the bill for her daughter's wedding reception.

Ask your friend to report it to Lloyds (if that is who she banks with) and see what they come back with.

I'm quite sure they will instruct her to change her details asap.

gemgemz

She banks with halifax, and I said when I spoke to her, "I hope you've changed your password etc?" she hadn't so I advised she rings their call centre and gets them to change her username too, which I don't think can be done by the user online.

Unfortunately, I think I put her in a bit of a flap, but I doubt she'll go down PDL route again, the hotel holding the reception changed hands and the new owners charged room rental on top of the catering which wasn't the policy with the previous owners. She knew she shouldn't have to pay the extra amount and didn't get paid until after the wedding, hence needing the loan, but she didn't want to risk the reception for the sake of a couple of hundred quid, after already spending a couple of thousand. Anyway, that's another topic, one which should be resolved soon as her contract with the hotel should have remained as-is after the takeover (which happened over a year after she'd signed and paid the deposit).

viclspence

I borrowed off Wonga less than a week ago, i already have an account for them but it didn't ask for me to put my bank login in. I do feel that there may be a scam site set up as it is illegal to disclose your online banking details - i know this because my mum had an issue with a phishing email that she stupidly clicked on and filled in, she got told by the bank that because she gave them her details there was very little they could do to take legal action. Its a shame we can't see the top of the screenshot which has the website as the Wonga site is a secure site with a green lock icon.

Good_Goose

Having thought about this I think Wonga are on pretty shaky ground to say the least.

Not only does it leave customers open to a possible fraud where the bank may refuse to compensate, it also makes other phishing attempts more plausible as people get used to sites other than their bank accepting login details.

Very bad (and quite possibly illegal) move from Wonga.

A better idea would be for new customers to email in or upload their ID documents and picture of the front and back of their debit card to the site.

An online bookmaker I use did this when I opened an account, and I was verified if 5 minutes.

MSE_ForumTeam1

Apples2 wrote: »

Ask your friend to report it to Lloyds (if that is who she banks with) and see what they come back with.

I'm quite sure they will instruct her to change her details asap.

A representative of Wonga has asked us to post the following.

We are a responsible lender and take any decision to lend very seriously. As part of our loan-decision making process, we sometimes ask customers to log in to their online bank account so that we can verify that the account belongs to them. This process (which is a standard practice used by online lenders) is completely secure and we never see your account or log in details.

Regards

JuicyJesus

This process (which is a standard practice used by online lenders)

It's not.

MSE should be posting articles about this, which is genuinely scandalous not just for how invasive it is but also the awful precedent it sets for fraud and account security, not crap about mis-sold iPhones.

JuicyJesus

Good_Goose wrote: »

Not only does it leave customers open to a possible fraud where the bank may refuse to compensate, it also makes other phishing attempts more plausible as people get used to sites other than their bank accepting login details.

This is my number one concern.

We already have an issue with people answering phishing emails. This will normalise the practise of sharing confidential information and make that problem worse.

The emails saying "you have won the lottery, we need your Internet banking details to transfer you the winnings" will look much more real if a "trusted" name such as Wonga is doing this.

DevCoder

JuicyJesus wrote: »

It's not.

MSE should be posting articles about this, which is genuinely scandalous not just for how invasive it is but also the awful precedent it sets for fraud and account security, not crap about mis-sold iPhones.

You mean you weren't mis-sold an iphone?

According to the MSE article, not only was I mis-sold an iPhone when buying my android HTC one but it also had PPI attached and I can claim all of this back plus £50 compensation and two kittens.

matttye

MSE_ForumTeam1 wrote: »

A representative of Wonga has asked us to post the following.



Regards

Thanks for finally confirming it - was starting to think maybe we'd been had.

MSE should get on this big time!

andyuk01

I was pretty convinced this was an elaborate windup but the post from MSE and Wonga confirms it

Absolutely unbelievable that people are expected to compromise their internet security in this way, every communication i get from my bank warns me (and rightly so) about the risks of doing this

If accounts need to be verified then adopt the paypal method, pay a small amount in and report the right code back