[Bradford] UK Banks and Linux

[Andrea Ryan]

Hi All,

Sorry for coming late to the discussion but here are my experiences.

Abbey/Santander - Used to get a message telling me that FF was not a
'supported browser' but then proceeded to work anyway. Don't actually get
that message anymore, so maybe Abbey are finally catching up.

In terms of security, they ask for card no, a passphrase (of your choice)
and an ID number (again of your choice). They also ask for a mobile phone
number to send a one-use code for use when setting up a new transfer etc -
much along the lines of the card readers mentioned by Martyn and Dave C.
Apparently people who don't have mobiles have been told they will need to go
into the bank to arrange these kinds of things, which defeats entirely the
point of online banking IMHO. I think Abbey/Santander have some questionable
business practices and wouldn't touch them with someone else's barge pole,
but it's not actually my account, just one I look after!

Co-op - as mentioned by Dave C, again no problems for me. Also have a card
reader, but I don't think I have used it yet! This card reader also works
with my Barclays cards and vice versa, so I can have one reader at home and
one in the office or my bag. On a less technical note, if you do need to
speak to their call centres, they're all UK based and very friendly.

Barclays - my main bank. Been using their online banking since it started in
the 90's and tbh it hasn't really changed that much - which demonstrates the
thought they put into it in the first place!

Access is via one of 2 methods: membership number (10 or 12 digits, not
related to card number or anything identifiable), then a one-time code
generated by putting your card and PIN into the card reader OR membership
number, card no, date of birth and memorable word if you've not got your
card reader handy. Logging in this way only allows you to transfer between
Barclays accounts or to existing payees (so a hacker can use *my* money to
pay off *my* credit card bill! :) ). Logging in with the card reader
accesses all functionality, but keep it handy as you'll need to use it again
if you're making a one off payment or setting up a new standing order etc.

Yorkshire Building Society - works fine with FF, not tried it with Chrome
yet. Log in is via a membership number (not related to your acct no or card
no), date of birth and selected letters of a secret word. Not fantastically
user friendly but functional once you figure out how to pay in/out!

ING Direct - again fine with FF, not tested with Chrome. Log in is via
membership number, numbers from a PIN and a secret date - but done through
an on-screen keyboard which changes every log-in, helping to avoid
key-loggers etc.

Now I've written all this I see the need to streamline my banking
processes...

Andrea :)
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