Mobile Banking - Say What?

[scfr]

I have not used mobile banking. In the process of signing up for a new bank account in order to score a bonus, I thought I'd give the bank's mobile banking a try. Then I got to a point in the process where the claim was made that the app "needed" access just about every bit of information on my phone ... including my contacts! Oh, heck no. There was no option to opt out of granting the app access to certain things. Needless to say, I stopped at that point.

For those who do use mobile banking, did you feel comfortable basically given a bank unfettered access to all the data on your phone? Why???

I had thought that security was my biggest issue with mobile banking (I was willing to try with the new account because I'd be keeping a limited amount in it), but I realized privacy is a much bigger issue. It kind of irks me to think that anyone who has my contact info on their phone and has downloaded a mobile banking app has given MY info to a bank.

[disneysteve]

I use mobile banking all the time but I don't recall them asking for access to all of the information on my phone. I'm sure I didn't read all of the fine print in the terms and conditions, though, so I suppose it could have been buried in the pages of legalese somewhere.

[creditcardfree]

I would have stopped too, but I don't know that ALL banks that offer mobile would ask for those permissions. I also do mobile banking, but I'm pretty sure that was not one of the permissions with my bank. It would be good feedback for the bank you are working with to know you won't be using the service because of this.

[kork13]

If it helps ease your concerns, those data requests are generalized explanations of specific needs. For example, it probably asked for access to your camera & photos. That might sound horrifically "surveillance state", but that access is actually only used for when you deposit a check with your phone and take a photo of your endorsed check. The request for your contacts likely was very similarly benign... Perhaps it installs a contact card for the bank's customer service line, or whatever else. In most cases, as long as you're only using apps from reputable companies, I wouldn't be concerned that they're secretly stealing your personal info. Okay, I'll acknowledge that some banks (::cough:: WELLS FARGO ::cough:: BANK OF AMERICA ::cough:: ) may not entirely qualify as "reputable", but you get the idea.

[bjl584]

If you're concerned, don't use the mobile banking app on public WIFI. If you have to do banking while out and about, turn off the WIFI and use your data. That will prevent ID theft.

As far as the app needing access to everything on your phone....., not sure why. My bank didn't require that.

[phantom]

I've never had a mobile banking app request access to my contacts. But, I imagine your bank is trying to gather as much information as possible for the sake of security.

I work on a finance-related app, and our primary reason for collecting data from a device is to help us detect and prevent fraud. It's mostly about making sure we don't lose money, but it also helps us protect our users. We use a third party service to help detect fraud, and that service asks us to send them whatever information we can get from a device to use in their fraud algorithms. Even if they don't have a specific idea of how they might use a certain type of data, they're always looking for patterns that they'll be able to use in the future. Better data means more confidence in their decisions, less manual intervention, and faster turn around times. In our case, we choose not to collect most of the data that our risk prevention service would like to use because we don't want to scare off legitimate users. But, it's a constant balancing act between protecting ourselves from the bad guys and making things as safe and easy as possible for our customers.

But, even knowing that there are legitimate reasons for an app to want as much information about me as it can get, I'm still pretty careful with what I share. You just never know when a company, even a good one with legitimate good uses for your data, will make a mistake and allow your data to fall into the wrong hands. It's a risk I'll take when I feel like I'm getting something of significant value in return. But, giving up my data is a decision I try not to make lightly.

[TheCudder]

I have a savings account with Ally, and their app requests access to your contacts for the "Pop Money" feature, which allows you to send money to your friends. The app will just access your contacts so that it can let you add your saved phones contacts to the your Pop Money contacts.

If you're running Android, once an app is installed, go to Settings >> Apps...select whichever app you want to change and you can adjust the permissions from there...so you can disable Contact access for example, and it won't be an issue for the app unless you decide you wanted to to import your contacts into the apps Pop Money feature. Then it'll probably pop a message saying to need to allow access to the Contacts.

[Drake3287]

I've used BofA's online and mobil banking since it came out many years ago and have never had a problem. I have various BofA accounts and have literally made thousands of transactions without even the slightest issue.

For me I'm completely sold. I can't think of that last time I had to write a check not to mention buy stamps to pay bills. At .48 cents each I'm sure I've saved a few hundred bucks in stamps. It's no wonder why the Post Office is losing money.

[disneysteve]

I've used BofA's online and mobil banking since it came out many years ago and have never had a problem. I have various BofA accounts and have literally made thousands of transactions without even the slightest issue.

Same here. I deposit multiple checks each week with the app. My only complaint is that they limit you to $10,000/month. I don't hit that limit regularly but I do at least a couple of times each year, like I did last week, so I hit the drive through ATM to deposit my last paycheck.

[msomnipotent]

If you ever read the fine print before downloading most apps, you probably wouldn't download any of them. Dunkin Donuts was one of the worst. They wanted everything, location, contacts, control of the camera and mic, etc. I usually don't do apps, mainly because I had old phones that didn't have all the security features or ability to control permissions. I recently bought an S8 that has better security features and ability to control apps, so I might start mobile banking. There has been a couple of instances when I was on vacation and really wanted to make a trade or forgot to pay a bill. Could have been useful then.

[disneysteve]

If you ever read the fine print before downloading most apps, you probably wouldn't download any of them. Dunkin Donuts was one of the worst. They wanted everything, location, contacts, control of the camera and mic, etc.

Many apps need access to the camera in order to fully function so that isn't unusual. I don't know about Dunkin but a lot of retail places let you add gift cards by scanning them. Supermarket apps may let you build a shopping list by scanning UPCs.

I don't know why they need access to contacts unless, as someone mentioned, they insert their own contact info.

[msomnipotent]

Many apps need access to the camera in order to fully function so that isn't unusual. I don't know about Dunkin but a lot of retail places let you add gift cards by scanning them. Supermarket apps may let you build a shopping list by scanning UPCs.

I don't know why they need access to contacts unless, as someone mentioned, they insert their own contact info.

The DD rep I talked to said that they need all that to track me, so they can know if I am near a DD and send offers. He wasn't sure if they send offers to people on my contact list (and you would think that he would know), but they wanted me to tell people on FB that I was at a DD. I don't know what kind of lifestyle a person would live to be excited enough about being at a DD to want to tell everyone about it, but that's not me. And the thought of DD tracking my movements just creeps me out.

[disneysteve]

they need all that to track me, so they can know if I am near a DD and send offers.

Creepy as it sounds, this is actually the future of marketing. Rather than bombarding everyone with offers and coupons that will never get used, they can now target offers to people most likely to use them. It's kind of neat when you get past the creepy factor.

I'm with you about the Facebook thing, though. I don't know why I would ever want to tell everyone I was at Dunkin Donuts or why anyone would care.