Post #1508901

2026-03-16 15:43 UTC

In a lot of counties banks are becoming mobile first. Want to login in the browser? Authenticate with your mobile app to approve. Don't have a mobile phone with the requisites of the bank? Well, go to the branch, take a ticket, wait and then tell them what you want to do with your money. It's not just about paying, banks are moving online authentication to be dependent on Google or Apple, whatever poison you pick. This seems like same shit different flies. Still dependent on some centralised approval which doesn't help openness and security. We need alternatives to the duopoly but this ain't it, chief.

Replies (1)

@pishadoot@sh.itjust.works 2026-03-17 01:47

I've never encountered what you're describing. There's always other ways to authenticate than through a mobile app, at least from my experience, and I think I've used about a dozen different banks/credit unions over the past 15 or so years. Last credit union I cut ties with had ZERO MFA for their web portal, except on account creation. Like, no SMS, no email, nothing - just user+pass, and making sure you have the right background picture of the login screen you picked on account generation (like, a duck or a football or whatever). Completely ridiculous in 2025 (when I cancelled my account). Regarding the OP, I think any new competition in this space right now is good, even if it ends up just being a triopoly vs a duopoly (fat chance with this thing but we can hope). Ideally though we need an open protocol/standard that can be implemented through any manner of device software.

Open ##1508911