Internet banking + card reader

lolly5648

I have just been sent a card reader to use with my current a/c for when I want to pay people online or transfer money between accounts. I understand that it is additional security but it is really inconvenient as I use different computers to log into my account.

Am I really supposed to carry this machine and my cards around with me everywhere. I often check my accounts at the gym and want to transfer money but I feel there is a bigger danger of my losing my cards and the reader there than is warranted by the chance that someone might hack into my account.

I thought internet banking was supposed to be easy.

olly300

lolly5648 wrote: »

I thought internet banking was supposed to be easy.

So did everybody.

Already some of my friends have gone shopping leaving their debit cards in the readers at home. Luckily they had credit cards on them.

lolly5648

Are all banks doing this? I am with Natwest and hadn't heard anything about this until I received the reader and a letter in the post.

demented_2

Hi, I have just received my debit card, but not the machine that i am supposed to put into the computer, do the banks send them separatly? All i asked the bank to do was re send me my security code, which i had forgotten so that i could go on line to access my account. My debit card was due to expire in the next couple of weeks, so i can understand the "new" debit card. However i still can't access my bank via On line, as all i have now is a card and no machine to use and no security code. :mad: Grrr.

Tigsteroonie

lolly5648 wrote: »

Are all banks doing this? I am with Natwest and hadn't heard anything about this until I received the reader and a letter in the post.

You're lucky - NatWest sent me mine last autumn. It's a pain, but I only need it for certain operations in online banking, like setting up new payees or making a one-off payment.

Main problem I've come across is not being able to find the darn thing when I need it, as I only use it occasionally. Now where did I leave it last time?

olly300

lolly5648 wrote: »

Are all banks doing this? I am with Natwest and hadn't heard anything about this until I received the reader and a letter in the post.

The larger ones that haven't brought it in are considering it.

After Nationwide's problems with their 10 randomly thought up security questions which lots of customers couldn't remember the answers to, they are bringing in card readers.

The smaller banks/building societies that run online current accounts will just ring you up to verify transactions, which means if they can't contact you the transaction most likely won't go through.

Fedz

NatWest contacted me a few days ago by surface letter to inform me a card reader is on it's way :rolleyes2

Is it worth the hassle of this? Pros/cons from experience appreciated

Tigsteroonie

Pro's? Dunno. Guess there must be some ... depends on how insecure you feel your internet banking to be.

Con's? Gotta find where you last left the thing!

Actually, I am slightly worried by the gadget. If I want to set up a new payee or a new payment, I have to (1) insert my debit card into gadget, (2) type in my PIN to validate, (3) type in a code number generated from screen, (4) read off the resultant code and type that into the computer. How does this gadget know my PIN? Does that mean that, sitting in my house, I have a gadget that stores my PIN or that can obtain/verify my PIN from my card? Pre-gadget, if I was burgled, the thief would have my card but not my PIN - post-gadget, the thief has my card and a gadget that can verify my PIN ... Or am I worrying too much?

ShelfStacker_3

The PIN is stored on your card, and as far as I know isn't really accessible (card readers just run an entered PIN against the card and get a yes or no response, AFAIK).

More to the point, the burglar could verify your PIN, but only if he was very lucky. The devices have the same security restrictions as card readers in shops, in that entering the PIN wrong three times blocks the card.

I can understand peoples' worries; most of the public isn't very technically inclined, so the banks are going to get a lot of worried and confused customers worrying about card fraud and such.

Fedz

The reader can verify your PIN on the chip, like in supermarkets before it even does anything ...

I presume the reader has a built in chip which has a preset alogarithm that NatWest obviously know and that's how it's done ...

The only protection it can offer is on the connection between your PC and NatWest.

ShelfStacker_3

Fedz wrote: »

I presume the reader has a built in chip which has a preset alogarithm that NatWest obviously know and that's how it's done ...

Precisely.