Natwest Online Banking Disabled

jarjar03

I tried to make a payment online with my debit card last night and it got blocked for fraud prevention. I called the fraud number and after asking me (simple) security questions, they said I failed the verification and I need to go into a branch so that they can check my identity.

That would be simple if I wasn't abroad. I've been working in the US for the past few months and I won't get back to the UK until later this year. They said there's nothing else they can do and will just leave my card blocked until I sort it out.

They also disabled my access to online banking for fraud prevention. Apparently the account is still active for direct debits and stuff, I just can't see the details.

Is there anything that I can do? I can survive without the card being active, but I want to see account activity, especially as I have a loan with them so I want to know when I need to add money to it so that the loan can get paid.

Please advise.

Archi_Bald

They probably blocked you for trying to access your account with a non-UK IP address. If you had advised them prior to leaving that you would try to access your account from abroad, that might have prevented the blocking. But that's irrelevant now as you have been blocked, and it is unreasonable of a bank to expect that people remember to always tell the banks of their whereabouts on this planet.

Only thing you can try now is put a formal complaint in.

agrinnall

But as the OP has failed the simple security verification I doubt if NatWest will reactivate the online access until they have provided sufficient verification. Whether there is some way of doing that without a personal appearance I don't know, but there have been previous threads where no other option was acceptable.

pmduk

I wonder if Natwest are tightening up their anti-fraud precautions, they suspended my access recently after I'd used a different wifi network to access my app?

jarjar03

Archi Bald, I've been accessing my account remotely since August. Problem only appeared last night. In terms of complaint, would you be able to say how/to whom?

Is there any consequence to having the card/online banking blocked for an extended amount of time until I go to the UK? I have my own evidence of how much money I have so I can still use it I suppose, but no online access. Can someone confirm that my loan will still get paid from the account?

Archi_Bald

jarjar03 wrote: »

In terms of complaint, would you be able to say how/to whom?

Natwest complaints: http://personal.natwest.com/global/support-centre/how-to-complain.html

jarjar03 wrote: »

Can someone confirm that my loan will still get paid from the account?

Natwest are they only ones who can confirm or otherwise.

stclair

jarjar03 wrote: »

Archi Bald, I've been accessing my account remotely since August. Problem only appeared last night. In terms of complaint, would you be able to say how/to whom?

Is there any consequence to having the card/online banking blocked for an extended amount of time until I go to the UK? I have my own evidence of how much money I have so I can still use it I suppose, but no online access. Can someone confirm that my loan will still get paid from the account?

Given the fact "you failed" the security verification what exactly are you complaining about? The loan will still be paid from the account.

grumbler

stclair wrote: »

Given the fact "you failed" the security verification what exactly are you complaining about?

I don't think that complaining can change anything, but these computerised 'security verifications' are often designed by idiots. Why is it that genuine callers fail them that often?

Call center staff just see see the questions on the screen and see/enter the answers.

It can be "the last transaction amount" even if the last transaction was a year ago. Are all people supposed to remember this or find this information instantly when asked?

Once I was asked what was the name of the street next to the one I lived at. I gave the name of the big street forgetting about a short 50 m 'avenue' between my close and the big street. Any human with a bit of common sense and a map on the screen would have accepted my answer, but stupid computers don't have a common sense. The answer was rejected it and I failed.

pmduk

My problem was caused by the fact that the hotel whose wifi I was using to access the app had recently switched to Talktalk. Unsurprisingly I was unable to identify this when asked by the advisor.