I want to know how hackers can somehow access bank accounts, but I can’t get into my own. I’ve never been hacked financially, but with all the whoop-de-do safeguards, they make it nearly impossible for me to use their system.
I am keeping the names out of it, but there is one convenience bank that won’t let me use their worldwide system even though the bank is in the USA. They want to send an SMS to my telephone so I can give them a code that will authorize my previous authorization. Only their software won’t take a Mexican cell number. Just a three-digit software change and it would be a breeze. But nope. They want me either to use a USA number or open a Mexican account! So much for seamless global access and shopping. I can imagine all the confusion with two accounts.
Recently I needed to lend some money to a friend. I went through all the transfer and account data information, entered my password twice and put in the SMS code. They cancelled the transaction because they thought it might be a scam. Then they thought I didn’t have enough money in the account. There was plenty of course, but there was a small pending transaction and until that cleared, they wouldn’t let the transfer go through.
OK, I am all for protecting the customer’s rights, but this is downright ridiculous. I know helicopter parents that aren’t this overprotective! I had to answer questions and discuss why I was sending the money. But isn’t this MY PRIVATE business? Apparently not.
I’m all for innovations that make it easier to do banking in the world . . . if only they did actually make it easier. So, can someone explain to me like I’m a five-year-old . . . Why is it so easy for all these hackers to access my personal data? How did one bank accidentally give out everyone’s social security numbers? And what about the $250 million fine recently imposed on one of the “too big to fail” banks for double-dipping on overdraft fees, withholding reward bonuses on credit cards, and opening accounts without customer consent? Oh, that’s right. No doubt they’ll find a way to charge customers another “junk fee,” as they’re called—fees charged to customers that are often seen as unnecessary or exploitative by banks—in order to pay the fine for duping those very same customers!
A month ago, a pickpocket got to my wallet. My bank card, permanente, driver’s license, all inside. Through a series of thankless runarounds, I’ve got nearly everything back . . . everything except my bank card. The bank is now on its third attempt to send a replacement. I still haven’t received it!
In my vocabulary, BANK is a four-letter word!
CORRECTION: In our July issue in the article on Frida Kahlo, Cristiana Marinescu was misquoted when asked about her insights on Frida Kahlo. Her quote should have read: “I don’t think any person deserves to be an icon. They are commercializing an idea that really doesn’t have much to do with Frida Kahlo or her art. I think it comes from society’s need to project. ‘Oh, she was strong, oh, she was bisexual, oh, she was talented, oh, she was political, oh, she did drugs,’ all these things that they (the people who turned her into an icon) wanted to do but were afraid to do themselves.”
We apologize to Christiana Marinescu for the quote initially published incorrectly and regret any inconvenience this has caused her and her reputation.
Victoria Schmidt, Editor
- Editor’s Page – December 2024 - November 30, 2024
- Editor’s Page – November 2024 - October 29, 2024
- Editor’s Page – October 2024 - September 28, 2024
