On Android distros [LWN.net]

On Android distros

Posted Jan 3, 2025 9:43 UTC (Fri) by Wol (subscriber, #4433)
In reply to: On Android distros by zdzichu
Parent article: Some things to expect in 2025

> I believe they will be happy to let you go. The cost of losing one client is much much less than the cost of fraud the banks are on the hook for. They minimise their risk by requiring certain platforms with known security profile.

The problem is they are trying to force everyone on to mobile. I wanted to read the small print for a loan. So I logged on to the "bank" to look for it. Next thing I know, "give us your mobile so we can finish everything ..." with NO apparent way to bypass it!

With fat fingers and aging eyes, do you really think I want to read the small print on a screen I can hardly see!!!

I've got no security conscious stuff on my personal phone (other than 2FA for work), and I have no intention of putting anything such on it. Anything of note (that doesn't require a PHONE) gets done on a minimum 15" screen. Usually with a 24" monitor attached.

Cheers,
Wol

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On Android distros

Posted Jan 3, 2025 13:00 UTC (Fri) by dskoll (subscriber, #1630) [Link] (2 responses)

That's really terrible. Here in Canada, all of the banks still support almost all banking via a vanilla web browser rather than forcing you to use an app. The only exception is remote cheque deposits.

If my bank forces me to use a mobile device, I'll switch banks. If all of them do, I suspect there will be a legal challenge, probably on the basis of accessibility. I doubt the mobile banking apps support visually-impaired users.

On Android distros

Posted Jan 3, 2025 19:31 UTC (Fri) by Wol (subscriber, #4433) [Link]

It was actually Volkswagen Finance. "Take out a finance deal and get a £4K discount" iirc. But from what I could make out, they added all the interest up front when calculating the repayments, and I didn't trust them to refund the finance charges if I repaid it early. That was what I wanted to check, and I got the distinct impression any refund was discretionary ... so if you took the loan to get the discount, then repaid it after a month or two, you could end up out of pocket. I chose not to take the risk.

Cheers,
Wol

On Android distros

Posted Jan 5, 2025 0:08 UTC (Sun) by jkingweb (subscriber, #113039) [Link]

> Here in Canada, all of the banks still support almost all banking via a vanilla web browser rather than forcing you to use an app. The only exception is remote cheque deposits.

RBC has a lower limit for Interac transfers via the Web than their app, too.