Internet banking...

[KalC]

How safe is it? Me old man wants to open an internet banking account and asked me how safe it is to do it, I said it was relatively safe but to be honest im not too sure how safe it actually is. At the moment we haven't opened the account as yet as I said I was going to look in to it first and find out what the risks are.

I have a wireless internet connection but my PC is connected via ethernet to the router, so would it be a safer bet to do all the account stuff through a wired connection rather than using the laptops wireless connection?

Any advice/tips would be great

[jackvdbuk]

depends how security consious you are really, if you dont trust the internet dont get an online account though i find it perfectly safe it obviously isnt as safe as a passbook.

i do all my banking online aswell as thousands of others and tbh if you have all the neccesary virus/spyware/firewall installed you should be fine.

[CircusNinja]

Internet banking is quite safe, and very convenient. Not all banks are created equal though, and even though I find it tedious to use, some institutions offer digitag's or other 3-factor authentication devices which go a long way for peace of mind. (I'd mention which ones, but I'm new to this forum, so I'm not sure if Im allowed to! ) Google it

Oh, and I would probably think twice before using Internet banking at a public terminal / airport. That's just my healthy dose of paranoia kicking in.

good luck

[steve threlfall]

Internet banking is quite safe, and very convenient. Not all banks are created equal though, and even though I find it tedious to use, some institutions offer digitag's or other 3-factor authentication devices which go a long way for peace of mind. (I'd mention which ones, but I'm new to this forum, so I'm not sure if Im allowed to! ) Google it

Oh, and I would probably think twice before using Internet banking at a public terminal / airport. That's just my healthy dose of paranoia kicking in.

good luck

Welcome

You can mention anyone you like. Brclays and Natwest use the PIN authentication machines iirc ?

[Fraz]

Internet banking is very safe. The only threat in my mind is if you are using a computer with a malicious keylogger on. Even then, there are some banks that provide you with a one-time pad device that gives you a unique code every time you login, which would defeat any keylogger.

And the information going between your browser and the bank server is secured by 128- or 256-bit SSL, which is very secure.

It's extremely convenient - saves me bags of time.

I wouldn't use it on an unknown wireless network myself, but even if it was an unsecured/unencrypted wireless network, you still have the SSL between your browser and the server protecting you.

[PeteSmith]

Very handy, and safe as long as your sensible and keep your passwords secure.

[Spud1]

It is very safe, and imo much more so than banking in person.

Where people are involved, something is always less secure..and as long as you keep your computer clean (run a decent AV scanner and keep Windows Firewall enabled), and don't fall into any phishing traps you will be perfectly fine

Lots of people worry about the various potential security risks, but they all have their real life equivalents which you are just as likely to be caught out by, you just have to learn them in the same way you did when starting "offline" banking.

[.Style]

Yeh these machines are called pin sentry...well thats what my barclays one is...gotta "identify" my card whenever i want to log in online and it gives me a unique code..very safe indeed..

[Alistair]

Never had any problems. Been with Smile, HBOS & A&L. All very secure, prefer online to dealing with the branches

[Andeh13]

Iv been with Halifax online for 3 years now, had £500 taken out of an ATM in new york (when i was in South Africa on holiday) but Halifax refunded me the money within a few days. Always bugged me what would have happened if it had been an ATM in the UK, whilst I was in the UK.
That being said whether they managed to get my details from online or via someone copying down the details off my card in a restaurant i don’t know, but Halifax guarantee to refund you any money lost via using online banking, most, if not all banks pritty much do the same thing.
I find online banking incredibly convenient and couldn’t see myself banking any other way.

[tiggerai]

Been online banking with Natwest for about 8 years now. Since the service was introduced anyway.

Do ALL of my banking online, always have. The only problem with the new card reader Authentication is that it needs a card with a PIN and the card reader... guess what I'm waiting for at the moment?!

As long as you keep your wits about you and keep your PC clean of threats and don't fall into any stupid phishing scams then its as safe as going to the bank.

[g8ina]

I'll just agree with the rest in here - I was with Barclays for over 35 years and had online banking almost from the first day they offered it. Never a problem.

I did get my card cloned at a petrol station once but they had the fraud team on the fone to me the same day to report suspect transactions and I got all my money back too.

The PIN sentry is a pain in the bum, cuz u need yer card every time u log on, but for that added peace of mind, I dont mind really.

Oh and as for firewalls, most routers have built in hardware firewalls which make it even safer (I have windows FW switched off as it aint got a clue)

[KalC]

Thanks to you all for the replies! much appreciated

So the general consensus is that it is safe so long that you are safe too

One more question I ask to you, now as Fraz (thanks for the info, very helpful) said before that the server is secured by 256-bit SSL encryption, but how hard is it for someone to actually hack into an online account?

I ask this as recently my friends account - hes with abbey, had £5000 debited from his account without his knowledge. Abbey insisted that it was his fault possibly due to spyware or maybe someone had hacked his network. Now about a week later abbey confirmed it was actually down to an admin error and put the full amount of money back into his account. But what would the actual likely-hood be of someone hacking his network and obtaining his details? After all, abbey were rather insistent that this could have been a possibility.

Apologies for rambling on, just need all the info I can get!

[santa claus]

After all, abbey were rather insistent that this could have been a possibility.

Whoa, if it's a possibility then stuff it. I reckon the security is crackable. Surely, you've seen enough net horrors to convince you of that. Also, as money gets tighter, banks will be less sympathetic to losses.

Internet banking is encouraged so that automation can minimise human resource; try telling a computer it's just robbed you of all your dosh and see how much it gives you back.

[Saracen]

I had an argument with my bank years ago, over internet banking.

Essentially (the short version of the story), they "uprated" my bank account to give me "free internet and phone banking" .... without asking if I wanted it, needed it or would use it. But the T&Cs that came with the 'new' account also effectively shifted to onus of liability for unauthorised transactions on the account to me. In other words, if a transaction occurred using the phone service or internet access, it would be presumed that the transaction was legitimate unless I could prove it was not. And in my view, that would often be difficult, if not impossible, to do.

I had an extensive argument with them over that, which culminated in me telling them to disable the internet banking on my accounts. They told me they "couldn't" do that without turning off phone access too. I told then that was fine, as I didn't want and had never used that either. They promised me it would be turned off within 24 hours and I'd get a letter to confirm. I tested it about a month later and it was still enabled. I hit the roof.

I now have a letter confirming that it's turned off and will not be turned back on ever without my explicit consent. Which isn't going to happen until and unless they change the nature of their T&Cs.


Is internet banking safe? IMHO, reasonably so, yes. Is it absolutely safe? No, but what is?

Am I prepared to sacrifice my piece of mind for the convenience of banking from my PC? Not until I get a more satisfactory form of T&Cs on online accounts, no.


Oh, and a thought. If you read what banks have to say about the safety of online banking, they'll all tell you it's safe ...... and then give a list of "if's". If you keep your passwords and codes secure, if you don't give the details to anyone else, if you use a good firewall, if you use a good and up-to-date AV package, if nobody with access to your PC introduces (accidentally or otherwise) any malicious code, if you avoid phishing emails and similar scams.

Well, if they really think it's so damn safe, why the long list of caveats?

Yes, internet banking if fairly safe .... for them. That's generally assured by the T&Cs (or was, last time /I looked). But it's not so safe for you if you let your guard down, or just screw up somewhere.

Am I paranoid about it? Probably. But aside from the convenience (which isn't really a bother for me), internet banking offers me little or nothing that makes it appeal to me. Instead, I know that if any online fraud occurs on my accounts, I'm covered by the bank, because I've got it in writing from them that all such features are disabled and won't be enabled without my written approval. So if such fraud happens, it can't have been me. It can only happen if the bank screw up.

Even if something does go wrong, and the bank eventually rectify it and compensate me, I have no wish to have the hassle and aggravation of sorting it out, or potentially of a substantial wait until I get access to my funds back.

[Pyrii]

Which bank was that Saracen?