I think it's time to look for a new bank.

In my country we have a large religious community that eschews smartphones. Due to this no company or government agency requires a smartphone for service.

This is a very good thing. I don't think many people here on HN reject technology, but sometimes no technology is better than one that is not controlled by the user.

No it isn't.

They just use an SMS code instead which is not secure at all.

choosing a wrong alternative does not make mandating spyphones good.

why not distribute hw tokens for purposes like this? it has the least flaws IMO.

would you mind reveal which community and country is this? maybe i can ask them to lobby in my area too...

It's the religious Jews in Israel.

It's because it's way easier to install malware on PC than mobile. None of us are immune either. In recent times there has been malware distributed by common NPM packages as well as game mods. Every NPM package you install has the ability to steal your browser session tokens and the only thing stopping the attacker from actually logging in and spending your money is the fact it has to be confirmed on your phone.

That doesn't require a bank approved app - we already have authentication mechanisms that are standardized.

People do proprietary bullshit because they want to do proprietary bullshit. Anything else is made up.

Choosing between a risk of that and preinstalled non-removable malware in every phone? Tough one, I know.

What kind of transactions require this? Normal bank transactions don't, right?

Depends on the bank's policies. Currently it tends to be when you transfer to a new destination and/or above a certain amount. I could certainly imagine a bank requiring it for every PC-initiated transaction as and when they reach a point where most normie customers are using their app.

"Every PC-initiated transaction" doesn't make sense to me. What type are transactions are you talking about?

> What type are transactions are you talking about?

Bank transfers and I guess direct debit authorisations (if your bank requires you to confirm those) and reauthorisation/confirmation of card payments that were blocked by the bank's fraud detection. I think those are the only kinds of transactions one would ever use a PC for? I mean for me most of my day-to-day transactions are me paying by debit card in a shop, but you can't do that on a PC in the first place; pretty much everything else I do on my PC.

Do you have to authorize those day-to-day transactions with your debit card on your phone every time?

No. Only to unblock when they get blocked/flagged as fraud (tends to happen for large transactions like plane tickets or buying a bunch of furniture), and even then I currently have the option of authorizing via the web browser (and I think also via phone call).

But sending a bank transfer is also a fairly common day-to-day transaction that I do a couple of times a month (and is the only way to pay for some government services like tax certificates short of visiting the tax office in person). Authorising a new direct debit happens occasionally (joined a gym, changed my utility provider, got a new credit card, that kind of thing).

Fraud prevention on my primary transaction account requires 2FA for every transfer.

The only supported 2FA is the bank's own dedicated 2FA app.

So if you buy something on Amazon with your debit card you have to authorize it?

Transfer of more than a set amount between even your own accounts in different banks.

Between your own accounts is the main use-case because you typically can't transfer between different banks.

> you typically can't transfer between different banks

WTF? What kind of shitty banking system are you using?

Wells Fargo said to do it I had to use Zelle.

Wow. You guys really need better banking regulation.

AFAIK Zelle is something US banks got together and set up on their own because the government didn't. So a Zelle transfer is the US equivalent of a SEPA transfer.

My brokerages require it every time I login from a computer. My bank will require it if it can't find a cookie from a previous login session. Occasionally, my bank will require it seemingly randomly since I usually log in at least once a week from my laptop yet every couple of months or so I have to reconfirm on the app or another secondary method.

What are the other secondary methods?