This feels similar to the other irritating assumption banks in the UK and EU make - that you have your phone on you and able to receive messages every time you make an online transaction. Every time I want to buy something online I have to walk down the street to get enough signal to receive a text message. There is no alternative or opt-out. Infuriating.
A bank security check that leaves you guessing your own name
51–60 of 67 posts
Re: A bank security check that leaves you guessing your own name
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have written quite a few checks to people I don't know. I don't think too many people think twice about it.
My understand is that in the US system anyone can initiate transfer out of your account with your routing and account numbers (both are on the check itself so they're not really "secret"), but if they are doing it without your consent they'll get into legal trouble and you can get your money back (but it _might_ take some time to get your money back). As a result most people just shrug it off.
That’s correct. I had someone take $40 out of my account this way a while back. My credit union was great about it, refunding my money and generally straightening out the situation for me.
But, in order to fix it, they had to close my account. This alone was more than $40 in inconvenience for me, but there was literally nothing else that could be done. I had no idea how my account information got compromised (or, even if it was compromised), and I’m not sure what I would have done had my account information been leaked again via the same channel.
Re: A bank security check that leaves you guessing your own name
#53Singapore has this figured out, it's not THAT hard, especially when you have a solid national identity / SSO design . You can use phone number or national ID number to register and that's all that is needed but you can set a display name freely if you don't want your name to leak via reverse lookup. Generating QR also is available right in app and accepted pretty much universal via the same app you can check in for c…
This is a different issue. It's not about verifying your own identity, it's about verifying the account number when making a payment to somebody else. The name on their account must exactly match the one that you entered or you get a warning.
It solves the same problem by using national identifier/phone number and displaying the nickname which can be easily verified.
The national ID has a checksum letter appended so simple typos are not very likely.
Re: A bank security check that leaves you guessing your own name
#54At least this is explainable by designers not anticipating hard cases. I remember the shittiest app from HSBC (who, by the way, seem to be sleepwalking their way through retail banking, with no direction from anyone who cares), which asked: "What is the answer to your chosen secret question?"
They rightly thought that showing the question could give away the answer, and thus decided to make that secret.
Then why not just say, "use a 2nd password"? You now have to remember your question, remember the format (with spacing, capitalization, etc) that you used?
Re: A bank security check that leaves you guessing your own name
#55Turo was using out-of-date info to validate my driver's license; I had to guess that it wanted the expiration date from before I renewed my license. An identity check system used for VA loans uses your credit history to come up with secret questions. It's multiple choice and they auto-generate convincing other answers and/or some questions are completely auto-generated "ringers" which you must answer none of the abov…
Suggestion: get and save a copy of your credit report from each of the major credit reporting agencies. They are required by to give you a free copy of your report if you request it, and you can ask for a copy annually [1].
Then when you get a question and you aren't sure if it is one of the "ringers" or one of the ones that comes from errors on your credit report, you can check the reports to help decide.
I've got a similar problem, due to the post office trying to be helpful. Briefly, a neighbor with the same last name as me got married, changed her last name, and her husband moved into her house. Years later they moved and submitted a change of address form. The PO noticed the name on the form did not match the name in their records for that address, but did match the name on my address, assumed I was the one moving, and so it was my address that got changed, not my neighbors. We got it straightened out, but now my credit reports show me being at that other address for a few weeks.
Re: A bank security check that leaves you guessing your own name
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
As a sanity check it's awful flow, though. If we're willing to deal with the 'wardialing account numbers' factor, I think the right flow is "enter account number, SHOW associated name, and make customer confirm it (i. e. by transcribing it off the screen if it's a huge transfer, or just click "Yes, I meant to send to Scamco Ltd.") That avoids the usability nightmare of "the name on file is wrong but not in a guessabl…
> no middle name Sorry, this form requires a middle name.
I've heard that if a recruit doesn't have a middle name, the US military will assign them one: NMI, which stands for No Middle Initial.
Re: A bank security check that leaves you guessing your own name
#57In the Netherlands, the various banks have aligned on the IBAN Name Check originally developed by RaboBank. This system works pretty well. [1] https://www.rabobank.com/en/press/search/2018/20180523-ibann...
Yes, I find the way ABN Amro implements this to be quite useful. If there's a mismatch between the name I entered and the account name, IIRC I'm required to confirm it before continuing. But it'll never stop me outright as mentioned in the article, which seems like generally wrong-headed approach.
Re: A bank security check that leaves you guessing your own name
#58Turo was using out-of-date info to validate my driver's license; I had to guess that it wanted the expiration date from before I renewed my license. An identity check system used for VA loans uses your credit history to come up with secret questions. It's multiple choice and they auto-generate convincing other answers and/or some questions are completely auto-generated "ringers" which you must answer none of the abov…
Suggestion: get and save a copy of your credit report from each of the major credit reporting agencies. They are required by to give you a free copy of your report if you request it, and you can ask for a copy annually [1]. Then when you get a question and you aren't sure if it is one of the "ringers" or one of the ones that comes from errors on your credit report, you can check the reports to help decide. I've got a…
It's a catch 22 - in the UK at least, answering those questions is how you sign up for a credit report in the first place.
Re: A bank security check that leaves you guessing your own name
#59The Thai version of this doesn’t require you to enter the recipient name, you just enter a number and a bank ... and it tells you the recipient name for you to check. Pretty fool proof except that it leaks names for bank account details
The UK has that system too, for the 'pay a contact system' which lets you make small bank transfers by knowing the recipient account holder's phone number. I assume my bank rates limits attempts.
Re: A bank security check that leaves you guessing your own name
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have written quite a few checks to people I don't know. I don't think too many people think twice about it.
My understand is that in the US system anyone can initiate transfer out of your account with your routing and account numbers (both are on the check itself so they're not really "secret"), but if they are doing it without your consent they'll get into legal trouble and you can get your money back (but it _might_ take some time to get your money back). As a result most people just shrug it off.
"they'll get into legal trouble"
They may get into legal trouble. My mom had her checkbook stolen that was in her luggage and the person used the checking account to pay for an electricity bill. She reported it to the police, but they had more important things to spend time on. When you can use someones else's checking account number to pay for a utility at a fixed location, you probably aren't worried about legal trouble when you are doing it.