Giving Bank Location Permission on Your App

xlnc99

Ive always denied doing this on all my banking apps however it has recently come to my attention that giving them permission could be a good thing. Apparently their algorithm or fraud detection analysis will use the location analysis of your app do help combat fraud and also restrictions on your account if you are using your debit card in a place which you usually dont go to. For example, a break in the UK or even abroad.

Any truth to this? 

kaMelo

It wouldn't surprise me if they did. From reading some ombudsman decisions the banks certainly collect a lot of information which they can share with the ombudsman to aid their decision making on complaints so it wouldn't surprise me if GPS is one of those datasets. 
Personally speaking, I always turn off GPS completely. 

xlnc99

Yes im with you. Same reason i dont have it on.
But this got me thinking maybe we should have it on. I mean a while back i was in a different location in the UK and i used my debit card for something and it got rejected. I then got a message from my banking app to tell me to log in and authorise it. Wondering had i had my location on then it would have known it was me due to the area. Maybe, maybe not. But i think it also will help if anyone does fraud on your card or account and the app can help locate where you are to help your case. It seems there are benefits to switching GPS on.

I mean on the face of it, what information is really at stake here? Its just the GPS

SnowTiger

kaMelo said:

It wouldn't surprise me if they did. From reading some ombudsman decisions the banks certainly collect a lot of information which they can share with the ombudsman to aid their decision making on complaints so it wouldn't surprise me if GPS is one of those datasets. 
Personally speaking, I always turn off GPS completely. 

Turning GPS off doesn't mean your location isn't being shared.

iThing and Android phones use WiFi (you don't need to be logged in) and cell tower info to approximate your location.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/google-maps-locates-users-without-gps/

Google maps and navigation usually work quite well with GPS turned off.

WillPS

Even without this permission, the bank will still be able to form a less accurate idea of location based on the IP you connect to them with.

penners324

This is a feature on Starling Bank as a security measure. Ie if your phone and card are too far apart then the card won't work.

colsten

WillPS said:

Even without this permission, the bank will still be able to form a less accurate idea of location based on the IP you connect to them with.

My IP is often at some addresses in Birmingham or Brighton. I have not been anywhere near Birmingham or Brighton in the last 25 years. IP addresses are assigned in large blocks to providers. Your IP address does not reveal your location.  https://www.whatismyip.com/can-someone-find-me-with-my-ip-address

WillPS

colsten said:

WillPS said:

Even without this permission, the bank will still be able to form a less accurate idea of location based on the IP you connect to them with.

My IP is often at some addresses in Birmingham or Brighton. I have not been anywhere near Birmingham or Brighton in the last 25 years. IP addresses are assigned in large blocks to providers. Your IP address does not reveal your location.  https://www.whatismyip.com/can-someone-find-me-with-my-ip-address

Hence why I said 'less accurate'. What I really meant was 'country-level accuracy' (although it should be noted that when you roam your data is quite often tunneled back to the UK anyway).

SnowTiger

WillPS said:

Even without this permission, the bank will still be able to form a less accurate idea of location based on the IP you connect to them with.

I live in south west Wales.

According to websites that track my location by IP address I'm over 200 miles away in Wolverhampton, which is in England.

Very 'less accurate'.

tehone

penners324 said:

This is a feature on Starling Bank as a security measure. Ie if your phone and card are too far apart then the card won't work.

I hope its an optional opt in measure - so many things to go wrong with it otherwise