tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post2378611850841530873..comments2024-03-28T09:19:27.451+00:00Comments on RevK<sup>®</sup>'s ramblings: I really am starting to lose my rag with @BarclaysRevKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369263214193333422noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-49891143672269836692018-12-09T16:57:45.929+00:002018-12-09T16:57:45.929+00:00NiceNicePeter Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14532264814565369687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-21286571550245860772017-12-23T14:19:16.681+00:002017-12-23T14:19:16.681+00:00Starling still uses GPS as far as I know, so this ...Starling still uses GPS as far as I know, so this is why I personally stopped recommending them for personal current accounts, however this does not affect BACS/Direct Debits so if you're a business and couldn't care less about the card it's definitely a good option.Andre Boriehttps://rjevski.ionoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-49383380029864577912017-12-23T14:17:26.658+00:002017-12-23T14:17:26.658+00:00Legacy rust has downtime as well. My Nationwide on...Legacy rust has downtime as well. My Nationwide online banking is routinely unavailable every Sunday night for "scheduled maintenance" - what the fuck is that? So far with the Monzo current account (not prepaid - that one was powered by a less-reliable third-party) I have yet to get a transaction declined because of their fault.Andre Boriehttps://rjevski.ionoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-34795389604362625632017-12-23T14:15:22.704+00:002017-12-23T14:15:22.704+00:00I would recommend against Tide - last time I check...I would recommend against Tide - last time I checked their app was awful (one of these cross-platform "web" apps using Apache Cordova/PhoneGap), and their tech stack is just something bought out of the box, compared to Starling which built their own from scratch (so they have all the technical know-how on-site).Andre Boriehttps://rjevski.ionoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-7860735017344151062017-12-18T18:03:41.767+00:002017-12-18T18:03:41.767+00:00AFAIK the downtime has been with the card processo...AFAIK the downtime has been with the card processor they use (GPS), having both Monzo (who now do this) and Starling should be pretty safe. I don't recall hearing faster payments being down for eitherMartinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11106970092602381799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-5452042204927727082017-12-17T08:59:19.495+00:002017-12-17T08:59:19.495+00:00I completely get where you are coming from, and th...I completely get where you are coming from, and the frustrations you are feeling.<br /><br />But I think many of your issues here were caused by not jumping through Barclay's arbitrary hoops, and being "different". They have no capacity to comprehend that you can't text a shortcode for example.<br /><br />You're ranting at an immovable object and expecting change. I'm not saying that we should all just lay down and do as we are told, but you won't have a good time with them if you don't.<br /><br />I do think challenger banks like Monzo are good, but they have had a few weekends of random downtime, which would have been very annoying for me if they were my only/main bank.rtho782https://www.blogger.com/profile/02052870855136709228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-15982104263389332402017-12-16T13:34:50.639+00:002017-12-16T13:34:50.639+00:00The fancy packaging is likely a Burgopak Slider: b...The fancy packaging is likely a Burgopak Slider: burgopak.com/en/tailoredNick Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04083452977458707717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-19601017028615550182017-12-16T09:19:36.507+00:002017-12-16T09:19:36.507+00:00I'll take a look, thanks.I'll take a look, thanks.RevKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12369263214193333422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-65408473418502984362017-12-16T08:50:37.039+00:002017-12-16T08:50:37.039+00:00https://www.tide.co/home-v5/ are a business bank w...https://www.tide.co/home-v5/ are a business bank with the same investors as Monzo, but they're quite new. Have you considered them?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-55179505691864139962017-12-16T08:23:43.942+00:002017-12-16T08:23:43.942+00:00Most crazily, some of the people in the EU making ...Most crazily, some of the people in the EU making decisions about how bank/finance APIs should work think that the customer sharing their username and password with a third party is actually an preferable way of doing things (compared to an oauth/openid connect based method where the customer logins into their account normally and then grants the third party access).<br />Joseph Heenanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09814744420039144545noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-63451894923814938322017-12-16T08:19:39.904+00:002017-12-16T08:19:39.904+00:00I wasn't aware of Starling uses keys in paymen...I wasn't aware of Starling uses keys in payment - that is indeed a good start. I'd much rather see a commitment that they'll move to the openbanking APIs over time.<br /><br />There is to the best of my knowledge nothing to stop the banks giving people API access to their data - although due to the security and other requirements it's a bit more involved to talk to these APIs than the Starling ones. (Some of the complication comes from the fact that you prove your identity once to openbanking who sign your private keys etc, and that automatically gives you access to all the banks who have signed up to openbanking). That all stems from one of the requirements the CMA had that the banks themselves should have almost no control over who can access their APIs, to stop further abuse of the market by the big 9 banks (they're pretty much only allowed to prevent API access if they have evidence of fraud...).<br /><br />It seems unlikely any banks will be offering customers direct access to the APIs on the 13th Jan - simply because it is a challenge just to implement the legally required minimum in the time scales. Slightly strangely the FCA may well authorise a third party to set up an API that gives customers access to their own data.<br /><br />From what I understand the FCA's approach to granting access to the APIs has a relatively low bar. I keep on meaning to try and go through the process.<br />Joseph Heenanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09814744420039144545noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-77038597658173642742017-12-16T05:36:22.023+00:002017-12-16T05:36:22.023+00:00I love my Starling card, it was so useful when I w...I love my Starling card, it was so useful when I was traveling in the USA. The rates for foreign exchange are competitive and the immediate pop up to tell you when the card was used and how much the conversion was became really useful. I had one query over a double payment from a retailer, I was able to to chat with the customer service team via the app and they fixed it within minutes. The old banks should be concerned, this modern ways of banking are just getting better and better.swchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09163765610488677334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-29101065420488757782017-12-16T02:57:07.056+00:002017-12-16T02:57:07.056+00:00I saw that and it seems crazy that customers canno...I saw that and it seems crazy that customers cannot get access to the api for their own accounts directly. Mad. I have read some of the Starling api for payment services which does in fact use keys, so seems they are moving that way.RevKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12369263214193333422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-56034117700020248692017-12-15T23:00:17.520+00:002017-12-15T23:00:17.520+00:00It could be worse. Much worse.
The Sofort payment...It could be worse. Much worse.<br /><br />The Sofort payment portal, which is popular in Germany, works by you giving them your ebanking username and password and they log in to your bank is you and remove money from your account.david.givenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09478403138062371685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-66732021123502703162017-12-15T22:22:51.806+00:002017-12-15T22:22:51.806+00:00Barclays will be launching an API you can get inco...Barclays will be launching an API you can get income payments from on 13th January 2018, courtesy of the competitions & markets authority's OpenBanking solution. Unfortunately you'll have to poll rather than payments being pushed to you. (You'll also have to register with the FCA to get access to the API.) The information returned by the API should be as up to date as the data show in internet banking.<br /><br />Unfortunately the security design of the Starling (and Monzo) APIs is not ideal. For instance they rely on "secrets" (instead of public key cryptography) in a number of places where it is not desirable to do so. From this point of view, the OpenBanking APIs are better designed. The OpenBanking APIs are also standardised so you'll get the same API across the 9 largest UK banks and a number of other banks that have also signed up.<br /><br />Sadly to the best of my knowledge neither Starling nor Monzo will be adopting the standard & more secure APIs, though I would love to be proved wrong. (Starling talk about they're at the forefront of 'Open Banking' in rather confusing ways, but they're referring to 'banking that is open', rather than the UK's OpenBanking initiative.)<br />Joseph Heenanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09814744420039144545noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-12490871133873950582017-12-15T21:45:49.467+00:002017-12-15T21:45:49.467+00:00Sod Barclays. You need a serious bank. I have ze...Sod Barclays. You need a serious bank. I have zero trouble nor hassle of any kind with Svenska Handelsbanken. Do talk to their little team in Reading. It's worth it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-63621956725362342292017-12-15T20:32:59.927+00:002017-12-15T20:32:59.927+00:00It's interesting how times change. When I firs...It's interesting how times change. When I first had a bank account I chose a bank that had a branch in the town where I lived. Time moved on and I opened an account with First Direct. At the time the idea of banking with an entity that you couldn't visit took some getting used to. But the idea that you could do whatever you needed to do over the phone without having to visit a branch was superb.<br /><br />Move forwards 15 years and how do we want to interact with a bank and what do we want from a bank? Well really, we don't want to deal with people. We want robust systems that we can access using a device of our choosing, at a time of our choosing. And I'd suggest that most of us actually want a very limited set of banking 'features': a debit card, the ability to make and receive electronic payments (faster, BACS, DD) and maybe cheques still. Overdrafts, other linked accounts, insurance, perks, foreign designated accounts, forex and branches abroad are all unnecessary. Can banks as we know them provide this still, or is there a niche for the challenger banks?<br /><br />BTW, I've held multiple current accounts for 15 years because I simply won't be held to ransom by a bank.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-55501682144528530912017-12-15T19:37:13.377+00:002017-12-15T19:37:13.377+00:00Been using Monzo current account preview since ear...Been using Monzo current account preview since early-on (Before it was even generally available), pretty nice although starling is a bit slicker in places and does current account switch which Monzo doesn't do yet.<br /><br />Starlings interface for Direct Debts seems better, but I'm sure Monzo will get there.<br /><br />I think one of the more important things to do is as you've suggested have more than one bank account with different banks just in case one of them Does indeed screw up.<br />Dragonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00022860954210501938noreply@blogger.com