OTT or not?

[securespark]

We bank with First Direct. They're very good and we have no issues being able to get in touch or using the service, bar the lack of banks, but that applies to every bank these days.

I occasionally ring to query a payment.

There is voice ID set up so the system recognises certain markers in my speech patterns and when the system confirms it is me, I pass the security check.

Yesterday I rang on speaker in the motor to query a PayPal payment and the security check failed. I then spoke to another call handler without using the speaker. I passed security, but was still required to answer a multitude of questions, some of which I could not recall. Questions like "When you left the newsagent yesterday, what colour hat was the man you bumped into outside wearing?" I couldn't answer this, so he went on to ask what the last payment that went out of my account was and what was the value?

I told him PayPal for 27.98, but that wasn't enough. Something else please...

I answered all sorts of questions like:

Is the account just in your name? What's your wife's full name?
What is the third block of numbers on the front of your card?

i gave him all this information and more that I volunteered and was not asked for like my DoB, Mrs Secure's DoB, our address, what year we swapped to them and who our previous bank was.

This went on for ages and eventually he told me I had passed security and dealt with my query about the PP payment.

When I got home, I tried to log on to my banking app. Nothing doing.

Sometimes, if the WiFi is iffy, it plays up and gives me a different screen which does not have the usual biometric log in option.

So I rebooted the WiFi and got my phone to forget the connection then reconnected. Still no good.

So I rang the helpline again and was told that actually, they had put a temporary block on my app which was now removed, but on looking further, someone else has removed the Digital Secure Key on my app, meaning I could not log in at all.

Apparently I was not told about this because they thought I was a fraudster.

Why did they come to this conclusion after I passed security, first by voice ID on the second call and second by answering 101 questions, again on the second call? Plus, they answered my query about a payment. Surely they should not have done that if they thought I was a fraudster?

I spent a good 25 minutes on the phone setting up my banking app.

I'm pleased they are hot on security but I feel in this case, they went too far.

What do you think?

 

[Keithmac]

I know someone recently that got their account emptied, so for me you can't be too careful.

I'm with First Direct too and would be happy that they are going to those lengths to protect my account.

Who you really need to complain about are all the scammers that have made all these failsafe necessary in the first place imho.

 

[Mottie]

I think it’s always better for them to err on the side of caution on your behalf.

 

[diy_fun_uk]

Catch 22 for all organisations these days, especially banking ones. If they make authentication easier then ...

 

[conny]

My wife has FPA, (Financial Power of Attorney), for her stepdad as he has early signs of dementia. She sorts all his banking for him but has to go through rigorous security checks each time. The first check is to see she is who she says she is and does have PA over the account. Then she is passed through to someone else who again goes through a long security check to check she has authority on that account. It's a pain in the neck and can take up to half an hour to get through to the stage where she is able to conduct whatever business she has to do. But what really p*sses her off is when she then has to do something with one of his two other accounts she gets transferred back to the start again and usually speaks to the same people she spoke to in the first instance.

 

[securespark]

Yeah, that seems excessively cautious

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I agree, absolutely ridiculous, but then try speaking to someone/anyone from BG. The only way to make any contact, any complaint is via their website and using the stupid chat thingummy, where the operators are in India and work to a script. The script wants name, email address, full address, account numbers, then you have to type in the details of your problem - not that they are able to solve it, no matter how many times you try to contact them, unless it's in their script.

Stuck waiting for a refund for 7 months, latest is I don't have a clue how much I might owe them because their billing has gone awire.

 

[Justin Passing]

First Direct are all UK , 24/7 (or they were!) which is one reason I use them.
Hopeless for interest, though!