I'm usually one of the first to moan about crappy banks and their lousy customer service, so, today, I thought I'd be the first to sing the praises in this instance, of Lloyds TSB, who after I'd inadvertantly forgotten my password for internet banking, asnwered the phone after one ring and sorted the issue in under 3 minutes in the most courteous of manners.
And the nice lady was British (Scottish) too.
So well done to Lloyds TSB, let this become the norm.
That's interesting. What kind of personal information did you have to give for them to give out your password so quickly?
I'm not going to go into any details, but they were "thorough".
And, no, I'm not in any pain.
; )
They have also announced today that they are closing their Mumbai call centre and from the end of the month all calls will be answered in the UK.
"Inadvertently forgotten" has a strange ring to it. Although it's a truism (since it's virtually impossible to forget something deliberately), the thought going through my mind is that you had it written down on a bit of paper and inadvertently lost it.
Hang on, "inadvertently lost" sounds a bit strange too, so perhaps there is a more interesting story to it. It wasn't just lost, but lost in a manner to which "inadvertently" is somehow appropriate, such as having the bit of paper in your shirt pocket and then putting the shirt in the wash.
Do tell. Go on. We won't laugh. (That's a lie, by the way).
One of the questions they asked me - what is your overdraft limit ? My reply, perfectly accurate, was 'My account has been in credit for
30+ years; I don't know if I have overdraft facilities and, if so, what the limit is.' Failed! Could proceed no further and they couldn't override it and ask other questions. Had to phone again and hope I was asked different questions (I was). Irony was, I was phoning to open another account and deposit money in it. It's a bit worriying that if anyone phones giving a false identity and wants to deposit money in my name, their security systems will stop them.Toom
To answer that question you only need to intercept your own statement in the post. Just another example of bank idiocy.
Jim A
In message , Jim Alexander writes
No. Many banks do not show the overdraft limit on your statement. I have accounts with two high street clearing banks and neither statement refers to my overdraft limit. Just another example of bank idiocy.
?
Ok, I'll re-phrase my point. Just another example of Nationwide idiocy (to stand beside losing all that data on the pc).
Jim A
In message , Jim Alexander writes
Except that Nationwide is not a bank.
Overdraft limit is shown on bank statements So that shouldn't be a question. Also bank account number, sort code.
They denied me the other day access I think cos I didn't know how much I'd spent recently on my cc (It was 4 months ago approx and I can't remember) - but again NOTHING that can't be found on statements. It's vital to secure bank statements against unauthorised access.
You can see how easily identity theft can happen though.
Lloyds do.
My favourite security screening question: "name a street near to where you live, but not the actual street you live on".
Mostly through moving house, living in shared accommodation or, sadly, where the culprit is close to the victim. Ultimately anyone could buy a fake passport and open an account in your name, and in this case the banks would not be responsible.
But now you have the option of giving a fingerprint when applying for credit. Your fringerprint is not stored anywhere, but it would obviously deter the villains (and if it didn't it should be easy to prove yourself innocent). The only downside is it makes like inconvenient when applying for credit.
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Ha ha! Funny that you find it so funny. Actually the real story was that I'd found a piece of trojan software on my pc, removed it, realised that I'd done some online banking since it was installed, so within the space of 10 minutes, had the machine wiped clean of the trojan, changed my password and was back safely online.
2 weeks later, I'd forgotten the password that I'd changed it to (as you do after having so many different passwords and being used to the old one), I was locked out of my account, hence the call.Moral of the story: Scan your PC with the most up-to-date anti-virus definitions, check for and install any operating system-level patches, check for spyware as well as viruses, trojans, etc using a multiple array of software (downloaded from verifiably correct sources, and all with their most up-to-date definitions too) and reboot and recheck the above if necessary, until no problems are found, each and every time before you use internet banking.
Hilarious eh?
Do they allow for people who don't live on 'streets'? Our house is in a village where the numbers are simply plot numbers from the original land settlement in the 1920s. The nearest 'street' is probably the A14.
If it's "not stored anywhere" what use it it?
Alternatively, don't use Windows.
Exactly, but of course, it would be stored somewhere and hence my problem with the whole technology - if you have the fingerprint stored somewhere digitally in a file, it only takes someone to take a copy of that file and upload it at the appropriate moment if online fingerprinting comes into fashion, for the whole thing to be utterly flawed. It would be CHIP N PIN all over again, although this time, there's even less scope for you to defend yourself if your identity has been stolen by a computer hacker or call-centre worker.
True. However, other computer operating systems aren't impervious to viruses, spyware and the like and so my advice goes for any computer-code-based internet banking experiences.
They may ask about a recent transaction, i.e. not one that's been posted on a statement, e.g. "when did you last draw cash on your cashpoint card? Where? How much?"
In 3 minutes they could ask several more questions, and if in doubt will not proceed.
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