Owning a mobile phone will soon be compusory.

Squire_Fulwood

p00hsticks wrote: »

If you don't have and don't want a mobile phone, I'm struggling to understand why you chose to bank with one of the few whose security procedures 'from the outset ' wanted you to have one.

Why don't you simply switch to another bank that doesn't assume you need one - the switching process is simple enough these days.
There's a thread discussing the various Stronger Customer Authentification measures the different banks are introducing here
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=6021774


Of course, if you don't have a passport or driving licence (these days even more 'compulsory' than a mobile phone and costing considerably more to acquire ) you may struggle to pass the required identification checks, but pehaps that's for another 'campaign' .......

I can help you understand. I joined Girobank in 1970 before mobile phones were invented. From the outset it was necessary to actually go to the bank and queue up to be served by a teller.

Long time later Abbey National and Girobank were bought out by Santander. Santander later changed the terms and conditions to say you had to register a mobile phone with them.

The point of this thread isn't to dredge up history but to point out that a bank now won't function unless you own a mobile phone which they will put to their use without contributing. In my case I bought a cheap phone but I assume there are many people that can't use the mobile for any number of reasons.

Squire_Fulwood

p00hsticks wrote: »

If you don't have and don't want a mobile phone, I'm struggling to understand why you chose to bank with one of the few whose security procedures 'from the outset ' wanted you to have one.

Why don't you simply switch to another bank that doesn't assume you need one - the switching process is simple enough these days.
There's a thread discussing the various Stronger Customer Authentification measures the different banks are introducing here
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=6021774


Of course, if you don't have a passport or driving licence (these days even more 'compulsory' than a mobile phone and costing considerably more to acquire ) you may struggle to pass the required identification checks, but pehaps that's for another 'campaign' .......

Thinking a little more about your suggestions. I could easily switch to another bank but how would that stop Santander demanding that all customers own a mobile phone?

Kentish_Dave

You seem to be suggesting that there’s something outright wrong about this. The world is changing, as it always has been, and technology marches onwards. This means that yes, there will be services that you can no longer access sometimes if you lag behind.

It comes down to a commercial / regulatory decision by your bank. They know that the occasional customer will need to move on but also know that they have to comply with regulations and that it’s prohibitively expensive to cater to everyone.

oldernonethewiser

Kentish_Dave wrote: »

You seem to be suggesting that there’s something outright wrong about this. The world is changing, as it always has been, and technology marches onwards. This means that yes, there will be services that you can no longer access sometimes if you lag behind.

It comes down to a commercial / regulatory decision by your bank. They know that the occasional customer will need to move on but also know that they have to comply with regulations and that it’s prohibitively expensive to cater to everyone.

Unfortunately not at a even pace, as far as mobile phone coverage goes. There are many places where coverage is patchy or non-existent.



There have been issues with lack of coverage for Smart meters and no doubt these same problems will affect some customers and would be customers of Santander.



The companies that work with their customers and within the limitations of the available technology are, perhaps, the ones that will do well.

p00hsticks

Squire_Fulwood wrote: »

Thinking a little more about your suggestions. I could easily switch to another bank but how would that stop Santander demanding that all customers own a mobile phone?

Why do you WANT to stop Santander 'demanding' that all customers own a mobile phone - it's their choice of business model, and market forces mean that if they really thought it was losing them a lot of business they wouldn't do it.

As far as I'm aware we're not talking about an app on a smartphone, just a simple mobile capable of reciving a one time password text, and it's only required if you use their online banking facilities.

Realistically, the vast majority of people who have the facilities to do online banking will also possess a mobile phone - indeed, many will be actually using the phone to provide the online banking facility itself.


If I were you I'd just accept that it's no longer a bank that meets your specific needs, and move to one that does.

Browntoa

List of all the banks proposed authentication

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=6021774&highlight=

p00hsticks

Browntoa wrote: »

List of all the banks proposed authentication

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=6021774&highlight=

Yes, I linked to that thread in post #11, to illustrate to the OP that a number of banks have alternatives to mobile phones for their online banking

Squire_Fulwood

p00hsticks wrote: »

Yes, I linked to that thread in post #11, to illustrate to the OP that a number of banks have alternatives to mobile phones for their online banking

Thanks for that link. Very informative. I never knew about it since I have not been back here for a couple of years and missed the debate.

The position I find myself in is that I have a (cheap) mobile phone solely for the use of Santander and the 200 ads for claiming PPI which it attracted. It stays in a drawer except for the rare occasions I need it for a OTP. I understand I will need it to log on now.

Someone else made the point that since I also have the app on the mobile then the PIN and the OTP will be on the same mobile. I will have to lock that drawer.

zagfles

p00hsticks wrote: »

As far as I'm aware we're not talking about an app on a smartphone, just a simple mobile capable of reciving a one time password text, and it's only required if you use their online banking facilities.

You can receive (and even send) texts on landlines so you don't even need a mobile. eg see

http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/8510/~/all-about-bt-text

Squire_Fulwood

Could they not have sent me an email? If I have online banking then I presumably have a computer. I can't think of why they insist I buy a mobile phone which I never had before they started this.

I did ask them what would happen if I didn't own a mobile and they said I would get a reduced banking service. Now that the phone will be used to log on then presumably I will get no online banking service at all without a mobile.

I don't readily accept the "you can change banks" argument since that won't change anything for the rest of the customers.

Something else I must admit to. For some time now I have been ticking on about web sites that do not function if you don't give them a mobile phone number. There are many work arounds. Who would have thought that putting in 13 0's would overcome the problem where the water company is concerned for example. It was only a matter of time before the freedom of choice to own or not to own a mobile was removed.

Santander has removed that freedom. Hence the title of the thread, which should have said that owning a mobile phone will soon be compulsory and now it is.