Comment by autoexec
20 days ago
> Things like banking apps are virtually necessary for many people's daily lives
I disagree. I think most people could do just fine without them. Some might need to buy a desktop computer or even visit their bank's website using a browser on their phone, but humanity got along just fine without cell phone banking apps for a very long time. Many of the old options still exist for a lot of common banking activities. Options like calling your bank on the phone, using an ATM, or going to a branch in person. If your bank really doesn't allow you to do anything with your money without a cell phone app I'd say finding a new bank is justified. Better yet, try to find a credit union.
Banking apps are convenient, but it's getting to the point where the inconvenience of being abused by the OS outweighs the convenience of a banking app which is probably collecting (and selling/exploiting) data they couldn't get from a visit to their website anyway.
> or even visit their bank's website using a browser
when desktop browsers are considered less trustworthy to the bank than mobile apps (this is approximately now) they'll invert the functionality and limitations surface so mobile will have more authorizations than desktop browser (this is also happening now).
client attestation is a fundamental transfer of freedom from the client to the server. it's nice in theory (I too want my money safe), but at the very least it needs a third party with different incentives, not the OS, hardware and browser vendor.
Yes, you already need the app to accept flagged transactions (that the bank didn't deny outright) for my Bank, no way to do that in a Browser.
> Banking apps are convenient
The only need I have for banking apps is created by banks themselves, to verify online payments. But it would work just fine with regular text messages. I don't need a banking app at all.
(And maybe verifications aren't needed either, since in the 40+ years I have been using a credit card, never once have I been asked to verify something that I didn't initiate myself.)
In many regions specific apps are needed for reliable identity verification.
Just because you don’t care about banking apps doesn’t mean I don’t. You might churn your own butter, but that doesn’t mean I don’t need to be able to pick it up from the grocery store. Our lives are different from our parents, whose lives are different than theirs. The answer isn’t “just go back 20 years and live like we used to”. The answer is to life in the modern world and still have our basic freedoms.