Why can't I do my banking online via PC?

YBR

I have current. savings and credit card accounts with a few different banks etc. which I manage online via my computer. Recently I'm finding a range of niggly things I can't do any more, I have to use a mobile app.

Today Halifax has really annoyed me with "can't do it online?" and I have to phone them - I could do it online if I were given the option but for "online" they actually mean by app only. 

(The other day it was another bank making it default to authenticate via the app and difficult to use a passcode and recently issues with changing address or title). I don't want to phone and face long waits and multiple layers of press this number and having to say things several times because their AI can't understand unusual words/names. Because I DO bank online but they are withdrawing services from that platform.

I feel my PC is physically more secure than the phone I carry around, it's equally well password protected. Also that it's better for my mental health to only access my finances when I'm in the right place, and better for combating fraud to not have the option to be hassled into transactions ASAP wherever and whenever. Plus I don't like to do everything on a tiny screen.

That's the sum of my whinge!

The questions are why are the banks making this difficult? and am I the only one?

friolento

You are likely to be part of a shrinking minority who is apprehensive about apps, or who are unable to use apps for a variety of reasons. You might also overestimate or misunderstand the security risks associated with apps. There is no reason why your money should be less secure if managed through apps as opposed through online banking- quite the contrary. It’s much easier for fraudsters to break into your PC than into your phone (or into your tablet if you prefer a larger display).

There are still banks which have no apps, or whose apps lack functionality available in online banking, so you still have a choice. Though over time, banks are likely to reduce/stop investing in technologies which are expensive, inflexible and for an ever reducing number of users.

YBR

friolento said:

You are likely to be part of a shrinking minority who is apprehensive about apps, or who are unable to use apps for a variety of reasons. You might also overestimate or misunderstand the security risks associated with apps. There is no reason why your money should be less secure if managed through apps as opposed through online banking- quite the contrary. It’s much easier for fraudsters to break into your PC than into your phone (or into your tablet if you prefer a larger display).

There are still banks which have no apps, or whose apps lack functionality available in online banking, so you still have a choice. Though over time, banks are likely to reduce/stop investing in technologies which are expensive, inflexible and for an ever reducing number of users.

In large part it's not the app vs website debate, but which platform - if I could install the app on my computer I'd probably use it!

wmb194

YBR said:

I have current. savings and credit card accounts with a few different banks etc. which I manage online via my computer. Recently I'm finding a range of niggly things I can't do any more, I have to use a mobile app.

Today Halifax has really annoyed me with "can't do it online?" and I have to phone them - I could do it online if I were given the option but for "online" they actually mean by app only. 

(The other day it was another bank making it default to authenticate via the app and difficult to use a passcode and recently issues with changing address or title). I don't want to phone and face long waits and multiple layers of press this number and having to say things several times because their AI can't understand unusual words/names. Because I DO bank online but they are withdrawing services from that platform.

I feel my PC is physically more secure than the phone I carry around, it's equally well password protected. Also that it's better for my mental health to only access my finances when I'm in the right place, and better for combating fraud to not have the option to be hassled into transactions ASAP wherever and whenever. Plus I don't like to do everything on a tiny screen.

That's the sum of my whinge!

The questions are why are the banks making this difficult? and am I the only one?

Do you have an iPad or other tablet? You can run phone apps on these. Another option is to install these apps on. a phone which doesn't leave the house.

Why? Banks think phones and tablets are more secure e.g., more secure operating systems and biometrics.

born_again

What have Halifax said you can't do on PC?

YBR

born_again said:

What have Halifax said you can't do on PC?

query a transaction on Credit Card. It's a trivial and therefore annoying omission

Section62

YBR said:

...

The questions are why are the banks making this difficult? and am I the only one?

No.  I found Lloyds won't let you update your address using online banking (they said their online banking site isn't secure enough) but will let you do it via their app.

Or, you can go into a branch (ho ho!), or just send them a letter asking them to change your address.

Given how trivially easy it is to forge a letter, it doesn't say much for their online banking security if they think it is less secure than a piece of paper. 

In reality this is likely just about nudging everyone into using the app.

In the end I got Lloyds to send me a change of address form (plus reply-paid envelope) in the post.

boingy

YBR said:

I feel my PC is physically more secure than the phone I carry around, it's equally well password protected. 

I feel the same. I now use an old iPad for banking. It never leaves the house. Last week I was in a supermarket queue and the woman in front of me was browsing her current account with the balance plainly visible to me. 

GeoffTF

YBR said:

I have current. savings and credit card accounts with a few different banks etc. which I manage online via my computer. Recently I'm finding a range of niggly things I can't do any more, I have to use a mobile app.

Today Halifax has really annoyed me with "can't do it online?" and I have to phone them - I could do it online if I were given the option but for "online" they actually mean by app only. 

(The other day it was another bank making it default to authenticate via the app and difficult to use a passcode and recently issues with changing address or title). I don't want to phone and face long waits and multiple layers of press this number and having to say things several times because their AI can't understand unusual words/names. Because I DO bank online but they are withdrawing services from that platform.

I feel my PC is physically more secure than the phone I carry around, it's equally well password protected. Also that it's better for my mental health to only access my finances when I'm in the right place, and better for combating fraud to not have the option to be hassled into transactions ASAP wherever and whenever. Plus I don't like to do everything on a tiny screen.

That's the sum of my whinge!

The questions are why are the banks making this difficult? and am I the only one?

What were you unable to do online? Perhaps you should consider moving your account to another bank. Ditto the other unnamed bank. If the telephone service is bad and you need to use it frequently, that is another reason to consider moving.

You can run Android apps on any Chromebook launched after 2019 and some older devices. Depending on the model, you should be able to connect a big monitor and a mouse. Chromebooks should be more secure than Windows PCs. There is nothing to stop you from installing an app to perform a particular task, and then uninstalling it. If you want the ultimate in security, you can use a dedicated Chromebook with a Titan security key only for accessing your financial accounts.

eskbanker

YBR said:

I feel my PC is physically more secure than the phone I carry around, it's equally well password protected. Also that it's better for my mental health to only access my finances when I'm in the right place, and better for combating fraud to not have the option to be hassled into transactions ASAP wherever and whenever. Plus I don't like to do everything on a tiny screen.

That's the sum of my whinge!

What does the bolded wording mean, i.e. who is (likely to be) hassling you to conduct "transactions ASAP wherever and whenever"?

dealyboy

On the broad point I agree with you YBR and thank you for expressing a view I was too frightened to express myself.

Now that I have plucked up the courage ... I love my laptop and I hate smartphones and apps, there!

I do understand that inherently they are more secure and I do have a dozen or so banking apps, I just wish that everytime I hold the phone it wouldn't think I wanted it to go somewhere completely different through screen or edge buttons and I could type rather than prod my way through.

My excuse is I'm an OAP and I'm supposed to be beyond my Best Before Date