Internet Banking

[mirabriani]

As an internet virgin....
Just how safe IS internet banking?
As Natwest have taken a month (so far) and still not opened my new business account, I was thinking about opening an online account.
I now wonder about the wisdom of this in the light of the Cahoot debacle

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Regards Briani

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[Gordonmc]

Never had any problem and I have been with an internet bank for five years now.
The only vulnerability I can see is if a baddy got hold of your username/password and PC at the same time... the PC sends an on-line ID code and seperate password when you log on.
Shifting money about and checking the account is straightforward and I have never had any problem with negotiating temporary overdraft facilities etc.
My old bank was bought by Strines... the manager disappeared, so nothing lost by going online.

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[cliffb]

I've been doing business and personal internet banking for over six years. Found it no problem, very very convenient and haven't had any upsets.
EXCEPT.....
I was with the Bank of Scotland...
When they merged with the Halifax everything went nipples up. After six weeks of no access to my personal accounts I changed to The Royal Bank of Scotland (of whom Nat West is a part). Thier security checks are a bit of a bind (compared with Bank of Scotland), but I suppose that is a good thing.
On the whole it's my preferred way of banking. The only time I visit a branch is to pay-in.
As for the Cahoot thing. Abbey are having problems all round... and (according to the media) hackers couldn't actually move money about. So I wouldn't worry about it.
Just my opinion, of course.

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[abraxus]

I've also been doing my banking online for some years now, and it's fantastic. It's so much more convenient than having to go to the bank, stand in a queue and interrupt their nice chats.

Security's no problem as the banks are pretty hot on this and in any case, like card fraud, they'll take the hit, not you. Just keep your account details to yourself. Specifically do not reply to any emails that appear to come from your bank, especially ones asking for acount details, instead if you get one, phone your bank up and verify whether it's genuine. It it probably isn't as my bank never sends me emails.

They're usually easy to spot as they tend to be written in bad english anyway. Whether this is because of their origin or a genuine attempt to replicate the abilities of most bank staff is anyone's guess.

Bill

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[dralex]

Love it. I'm with VirginOne at present, but have also used Barclays and have never had any problems. It's great being able to do money transfers and payments on line. With Virgin, I have a random numeric passcode with 6 digits, otherwise anyone who know you may be able to guess your passwords.

<hr width=100% size=1>Life's too short- do it now./forums/images/icons/wink.gif

 

[Sea Devil]

I have been doing everything in banking on the internet for years - Agree that Royal Bank of Scotland (and Nat West) have very high security that can be a pain but the entire thing works very well - you even get better interest on the savings accounts. cannot reccomend it all highly enough particulaly if you are away cruising.

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[Stevie_T]

I use online banking with NatWest and have had no problems.
There E savings account is very andy and gives reasonable interest rates.

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[Davy_S]

I note you say useful when away cruising, I am moving shortly so have been looking to set up an internet account. I have noticed there are Static and Dynamic IP adresses. I am told you cannot set up internet banking with a Dynamic connection as the IP adress is random. Has this ever caused problems? I still struggle with computers so it has me baffled.

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[mirabriani]

Thank you everybody for the swift replies.
It seems any worries are unfounded
So... Forward into the new world

Regards Briani

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[mikewilkes]

Went to firstdirect in 89 /90 after falling out with the Clydesdale.
Started internet banking with them when they open up that bit. Cant even remember how many years now.
No problems would recommend them to anybody. They also have some kind of "expat" type travel insurance / cash from holes in the wall overseas and dont pay any fees etc etc.

Walk past high street branches now and see a queue to see a body - not for me thank you.
If I am not near my laptop and need to speak to them all I need do is call their special overseas number and you are through to somebody very quickly.
You could even do it whilst having a cold one in a bar - that is what I call service. They also tell me they are not moving to the Indian sub continent either.


<hr width=100% size=1>Mike

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

Davy-S,

You have been poorly advised....virtually every private user of the Internet, whether they be dial-up, broadband, or cellular has a dynamic IP address.... so if you could only use a static address, then no-one hardly at all would be able to use Internet Banking.....

Dynamic IP addresses are perfectly normal, and perfectly safe.... its just the industries way of sharing the scare resource that IP address are nowadays...
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[alahol2]

I'll second FirstDirect. Been with them for years. Can do virtually anything on-line except pay in. They're part of HSBC which means a machine on every high street. They always answer the phone within 3 rings and all their operators seem to be able to answer any question (no telephonic abyss). Security never a problem.
Also agree with above post re Halifax/IF, wouldn't trust them to look after a piggy bank.


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[Trevor_swfyc]

Safe but: Beware of any e-mail which may appear to come from your bank and will say something like we wish to update your account details and will attempt to get your passwords and banking pass number. On no account reply to any of these e-mails or be redirected via e-mail to the banks web site as it will be a hoax site possibly set up to defraud you.
Most if not all banks issue a warning on the log in pages regarding these frauds.
I had one trying to obtain details of my account with AOL it said we are having trouble getting the money from your account please supply use with details of your bank account direct debit. I deleted the e-mail and as you can see I am still online.

So its safe but not fool proof!
Trevor

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[Davy_S]

Thanks for the info, I got my information by looking at the Greek ISP ie OTE and Forthnet. They offer Dynamic and Static (static twice the price) it states on the website that dynamic is not suitable for internet banking. I will bow to your superior knowledge, as it is something i have no experience of. It would certainly be better for my circumstance if you are correct.

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[AJW]

Couldn't agree more about First Direct. I've been with them since '95 and use both the internet and telephone service. Cannot fault their service at all. The one time I had fraudulent transactions on my account. (£500 with Woolworths bizarrely enough, I mean how can you spend £500 at Woollies? Anyway I digress...) they sorted in 24hrs incl full refund to my account.

I'm shortly becoming an expat but want to retain UK bank account which they say they have no probs with. V. Satisfied customer!

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[snowleopard]

worked for a while on the development of internet banking for one of the big banks. the rest of the team were a complete bunch of ******s (no further info - my views are actionable). however, one thing you can be sure of is that security is tight. the biggest security risk is you. as well as the scam emails you may also get phone calls supposedly from your bank asking for proof of identity info so just be careful what you tell anyone. in particular a genuine contact from the banks will never ask you for your password or pin in full.

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[mikewilkes]

Woolies ?????

They knew it could not have been a genuine first direct customer - surely ?? /forums/images/icons/laugh.gif


<hr width=100% size=1>Mike

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

Davy_S,

Dynamic might not always be appropriate for Commercial Internet Banking where they are dealing with Payroll etc, as they might use a static address as part of their security systems (although those who also know something about this subject will confirm that this is pretty weak as far a security goes, so hopefully they also have some other security systems!), but for personal banking, I can assure you categorically that a dynamic IP address is fine. I too, like Snowleopard above, have been involved in Banking security systems, and if the systems for Internet banking required static addresses, it would preclude 99.99% of the general public from using the service at home...

Go and use it.... like everyone above... its just so much easier..... the only thing you can't do is paying in... and nowadays, many payments can even be arranged direct to your account, so even thats not a huge problem..... I'd NEVER go back.... and the names mentioned above are generally getting their security acts together now.... for example, most will now request specific characters from your password rather than the whole password, and will randomly change the requested digits... this prevents your password being intercepted either on your machine or in the network, and thus is a bit safer..... so slowly but surely its getting better.... as Snowleopard said... its you thats the risk nowadays, not the bank, so as long as you use common sense you are fine...

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[macd]

I've been with Smile (www.smile.co.uk) for 5 years and have only good things to say about them. Charges are low to nil and they offer good interest rates on both current (currently 3.3%) and deposit accounts (over 4%, from memory). Smile is part of the Co-op Bank. There aren't all that many branches, but cards work at cash points world-wide.

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[bedouin]

Define "Safe".

There have been a number of cases over recent years, the Cahoot one being the latest, where problems in the security of an online financial site has allowed personal information to be visible to other people. So in terms of keeping your personal details confidential, it is not totally safe.

However as far as I am aware there has never been a case of a security breach allowing money to be transfered from an account - and even if it did then you would be protected and the bank will bear the loss. So is it safe in the sense of protecting you from financial loss - the answer is yes.



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