Online Banking - Are card readers legal?

Of course it's legal.

I don't see why it is impractical to carry a card reader around with you when you have to carry things like passports, credit cards, money and mobile phones.

Saying you can't do online banking at work doesn't seem that bad unless you work 24 hours a day.

I think card readers are a good idea as it makes it harder for criminals being able to access your account from the comfort of their own home.

Even more to the point - can you tell us which particular law you think comes any where near making it illegal.

The laws of supply and demand, and common sense may be applicable in these circumstances.

If you are trolling - I apologise - and acknowledge you're winning one - nil.

In message , John writes

Nothing illegal about it that I can see. If you don't like the service being provided by a service provider, the usual answer is to change provider to another one.

Of course they are legal. Why on earth should they be anything else?

Banks offer a service subject to Ts and Cs that they have a right to amend. If you don't like it, find another bank.

More to the point, does it run under linux, MacOS, Freebsd......

??

A card reader? Thanks for reminding me why I left NatWest. What are you supposed to do if you're on holiday, or visiting friends and using a different computer from your usual one?

The card reader (& separate card) Nat West sent me recently does not attach itself to my computer (nor any other computer for that) It doesn't read my bank cards, but a separate card they sent me with it's own chip & PIN.

I could carry it round with me and use it on a public internet terminal (if I was stupid enough to do that) to access my online banking, so in-theory, if keyboard-loggers, etc. did steal my basic userID and passwords, they would still need the card and a reader and the PIN to make the reader recognise the card to access my details.

(I don't trust them though, so won't use a public terminal.)

It's just a shame the muppets at Nat West didn't make it function as a standard desk calculator at the same time as the challenge-response calculator )-:

Gordon

The Barclays PIN sentinel that I use is a stand-alone device that has no connection to my PC. It simply generates a unique one-time code for each visit to the site and for each third-party payment.

Dump em & go somewhere else as Nat west are Crap Anyway

All The Best

Skinty

I doubt it, nothing else does!

Who cares? The type of people that use those are the type that keep their money in their matress.

You can do most things at NWOLB without the card reader thingie (check balance, print statements, make payments to existing payees, cancel DDs etc). You only need it to create new payees AFAIK. I haven't needed to use it ... yet.

Presumably as Natwest is owned by Royal Bank of Scotland, it will be the same gizmo which RBS sent me?

That one only restricts you in certain actions which I only do rarely anyway (think I've used mine twice in the 6 months I've had it) - IIRC stuff like setting up new transactions for third parties who aren't on RBS' predefined list of approved payees?

I can still access and monitor my accounts, pay my bills etc as usual without the device - can't say it bothers me at all.

David

Don't know anything about this thingy. How's it rate for accessibility? Does it have audio output?

If not, does it fall foul of the disability discrimination act?

Tiddy Ogg.

In Bystander said

Which sounds the same as that issued to me by NatWest, there's no connection to the PC at all.

So does my NatWest card reader.

At 07:35:27 on 08/01/2008, John delighted uk.legal by announcing:

Why should it not be legal?

At 09:30:34 on 08/01/2008, (not quite so) Fat Sam delighted uk.legal by announcing:

Have a reader with you, presumably.

They don't have to provide online banking - why shouldn't they specify their own equipment and methods etc.?