On-line banking hassles

[amateur51]

Same as the English with surnames such as Smith, Brown, Wheeler or Wright. Steer clear of your first cousin Mandy!

Cousin Albert seems altogether more interesting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ini59bYhaUY

[Simon B]

One day you may well be old and senile, Resurrection Man. When that day comes I really do hope someone repeats to you what you have written in that last line. I find these complications of life increasingly hard to process, true, but it is where those who really can't cope and are on their own find themselves, or one day will, that really draw my sympathies.

While the post to which you refer is self-proclaimedly unsympathetic, the factual points are well-made.

There's an understandable tendency to regard the "online world" as qualitatively different from the "real world" at some basic level, partially as a result of all the hyperbolic b-**-*ks to this effect that's generated. Mostly, it's really just a question of the mechanics of accomplishing some task.

The question of "How easy do you want to make it for somebody to get access to your money and nick it all?" has the same answer in either context. In the "real world" that means putting physical security (secure buildings, security guards, safes etc) between them and it. The same physical security also ends up between you and it. This results in a mixture of inconvenience and complexity for you, and/or having to trust other people (bank employees, family, friends) to help you with it.

Exactly the same principle applies "online". The great difficulty that needs to be put in the way of anyone trying to get unauthorised access to your stuff creates inconvenience and complexity for you. In the same way that a safe is only as good as the difficulty of guessing the combination or blowing the doors off, verifying that someone is who they claim they to be necessarily requires them to be able to provide a set of bits of information that would be near-impossible for an impostor to obtain by simple means.

This circle cannot be squared.

[John Wright]

Same as the English with surnames such as Smith, Brown, Wheeler or Wright. Steer clear of your first cousin Mandy!

Oi! Anna! Are you suggesting I am common?

[Bryn]

S_A I have banked online for a decade or more with one particular operator and (touching wood with all available exposed flesh ) I have never had a second's bother, indeed they have been much better than real banks I've used in the past (or a trunk under the bed).

If you are interested, send me a PM and I'll tell you more.

I too have banked online for over a decade, and without any real problems. I use a credit cards from two banking institutions other than my main bank and settle the accounts online every month, again without problem. Perhaps S_A us just unlucky. My main banking, by the way, is with a Building Society to be found all over the country.

[teamsaint]

One day you may well be old and senile, Resurrection Man. When that day comes I really do hope someone repeats to you what you have written in that last line. I find these complications of life increasingly hard to process, true, but it is where those who really can't cope and are on their own find themselves, or one day will, that really draw my sympathies.

Sympathy for other people, particularly with those stuggling with the complexities of the modern world (which are usually based in the desire for extra profit), is pretty unfashionable these days.

[Serial_Apologist]

Sympathy for other people, particularly with those stuggling with the complexities of the modern world (which are usually based in the desire for extra profit), is pretty unfashionable these days.

So I gather, teamsaint. What a bleak future this holds!

[Don Petter]

Yes, true, but I have the original document, the same age as me, and a certified copy, though legally as good, is not quite the same. I have a number of original documents belonging to my family, and I feel there is something rather special about them.

Well, in that case (and I know how you feel about the one written out at the time, with its vintage look and feel), get a 'modern' copy or two to send off for those who need it. When I sorted out my various pensions a year or so ago I had several such copies going the rounds, as well as a couple of marriage certificates.

[Resurrection Man]

Sympathy for other people, particularly with those stuggling with the complexities of the modern world (which are usually based in the desire for extra profit), is pretty unfashionable these days.

We seem to be excelling with the hyperbole on this one. It really stretches the imagination to see the link between asking and commenting on exactly where the difficulty was in supplying one's mother's date of birth within the context of establishing one's bona fides and 'extra profit'. Also giving your mother's date of birth is hardly up there with 'technological challenge of the Century'.

[teamsaint]

We seem to be excelling with the hyperbole on this one. It really stretches the imagination to see the link between asking and commenting on exactly where the difficulty was in supplying one's mother's date of birth within the context of establishing one's bona fides and 'extra profit'. Also giving your mother's date of birth is hardly up there with 'technological challenge of the Century'.

well, don't worry about it then , just carry on being unsympathetic.

The commercial world is a very unforgiving place. I know, I work in it, and have for 25 years.And it is getting worse.

Dog wagging tail. Banks running the world. Our banks. Our world.

[Beef Oven]

well, don't worry about it then , just carry on being unsympathetic.

The commercial world is a very unforgiving place. I know, I work in it, and have for 25 years.And it is getting worse.

Dog wagging tail. Banks running the world. Our banks. Our world.

The public sector is just as unforgiving!! One in seven workers being flushed down the tubes!

[teamsaint]

The public sector is just as unforgiving!! One in seven workers being flushed down the tubes!

fair point.
Was ok when I was in it, though it was a refuge for idlers and drinkers. (I wasn't in those groups, obviously !!).

My job was kept open for me to walk back into, any time i wanted, for 3 years from the date of resignation !!

[Flosshilde]

The public sector is just as unforgiving!! One in seven workers being flushed down the tubes!

I think that's government policies, not the public sctor per se.

[jayne lee wilson]

Sorry to hear of such problems, SA - but stick with it and iron it out.

Internet banking - utter godsend. Neither of us here being in perfect health or mobility, don't know how I'd cope without it.
Phone banking a reasonable backup.

[Vile Consort]

I think that's government policies, not the public sctor per se.

I think it's the previous government leaving this one without any money.

[VodkaDilc]

I think it's the previous government leaving this one without any money.

I think that, at last, the electorate has seen through this excuse.