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I never understood the american secrecy about SSN... it should be a "username" not a "password"... The problem is banks/financial services do a piss-poor job v

I never understood the american secrecy about SSN... it should be a "username" not a "password"... The problem is banks/financial services do a piss-poor job validating identity when issuing credit/opening accounts. "Oh, you provided an address, a SSN, and [non-random, easily discoverable personal fact]! Sure, here's a CC with a $150k limit!" It's not the leak that's the problem; it's the ease with which that leaked data is used to either obtain fraudulent credit or access accounts. I don't have a good answer, because at some point, a financial institution needs to trust people to do business. Customer loses their phone, so MFA doesn't work, ok, now what? I guess the customer needs to have one-time use recovery tokens saved somewhere that can't be lost? How many people do that (not nearly enough)? How many banks even issue those tokens? And what if the token store gets hacked? Now you're really fucked.

piva00 2y ago
> Customer loses their phone, so MFA doesn't work, ok, now what? I guess the customer needs to have one-time use recovery tokens saved somewhere that can't be lost? How many people do that (not nearly enough)? How many banks even issue those tokens? And what if the token store gets hacked? Now you're really fucked. In my experience with banking in Brazil and Sweden this is easily solved with a OTP device you get from your bank. Brazilian banks before that used to provide a card of 50-100 tokens you'd use for authenticating, which is obviously dangerous as people would carry them in their wallets with their cards (and associated banking details). Since the early 2010s banks have instead provided a physical OTP generator that you associate with your account. In Sweden if I lose access to my phone with my digital identification app (BankID) I can fall back to my hardware OTP generator to login into my account, and authorise a new BankID installation in case I need a new phone. It's a solved problem, even though the US developed a lot of the tech industry it feels like digital infrastructure is still in the late 90s for a lot of stuff; banking is a clear case, and government systems are another good example, e.g.: the DHS website for visa application is atrocious, we are in 2024 and applying for a visa feels like an experience from when I navigated the web on Netscape in the early 2000s.
- alistairSH 2y ago
  Totally agree. It feels like our banking is a decade behind - like transfer money - no direct way to do it between banks - most people use Venmo. Some banks are part of Zelle, but I’ve heard it has fraud issues (weak discovery/confirmation of correct recipient) and the banks won’t refund many fraudulent transfers (“You initiated the transfer! Not our problem you sent to the wrong person!”). So, do you get a physical OTP generator for every financial institution? I guess that works, but that would mean I’d have a drawer full (2x bank, 1x work, current 401k, past IRA, and a brokerage account - x2 because my wife has about the same). I was thrilled last year when I discovered I could renew my passport online! In 2023! That should have been available eons ago.
  - pylua 2y ago
    Drawer? I would say bank lockbox but that seems like a chicken and the egg problem . It’s not entirely solved sounds like.
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piva00 2y ago

> Customer loses their phone, so MFA doesn't work, ok, now what? I guess the customer needs to have one-time use recovery tokens saved somewhere that can't be lost? How many people do that (not nearly enough)? How many banks even issue those tokens? And what if the token store gets hacked? Now you're really fucked. In my experience with banking in Brazil and Sweden this is easily solved with a OTP device you get from your bank. Brazilian banks before that used to provide a card of 50-100 tokens you'd use for authenticating, which is obviously dangerous as people would carry them in their wallets with their cards (and associated banking details). Since the early 2010s banks have instead provided a physical OTP generator that you associate with your account. In Sweden if I lose access to my phone with my digital identification app (BankID) I can fall back to my hardware OTP generator to login into my account, and authorise a new BankID installation in case I need a new phone. It's a solved problem, even though the US developed a lot of the tech industry it feels like digital infrastructure is still in the late 90s for a lot of stuff; banking is a clear case, and government systems are another good example, e.g.: the DHS website for visa application is atrocious, we are in 2024 and applying for a visa feels like an experience from when I navigated the web on Netscape in the early 2000s.

alistairSH 2y ago
Totally agree. It feels like our banking is a decade behind - like transfer money - no direct way to do it between banks - most people use Venmo. Some banks are part of Zelle, but I’ve heard it has fraud issues (weak discovery/confirmation of correct recipient) and the banks won’t refund many fraudulent transfers (“You initiated the transfer! Not our problem you sent to the wrong person!”). So, do you get a physical OTP generator for every financial institution? I guess that works, but that would mean I’d have a drawer full (2x bank, 1x work, current 401k, past IRA, and a brokerage account - x2 because my wife has about the same). I was thrilled last year when I discovered I could renew my passport online! In 2023! That should have been available eons ago.
- pylua 2y ago
  Drawer? I would say bank lockbox but that seems like a chicken and the egg problem . It’s not entirely solved sounds like.
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