Eventually though I suspect that web access to banks will be rescinded too, much like HMRC in the UK no longer permits companies to submit their taxes through the websites.
In the future, everything will need an 'app'.
In the future, everything will need an 'app'.
No no no shut up, don’t speak up. No one thinks like you.
Most people would find this viewpoint to be strange.
They'll find a solution to their problem, which is you: apologize for losing you as a customer, and express a hope that you'll consider them again after you've bought a phone.
https://www.digitaltrends.com/phones/venmo-shutters-web-plat...
Most banks charge a fee for sending a wire. Sending an ACH is free, but most restrict that to your own account. Revolut is the only one I've seen that lets you just spam ACH to anyone. In both cases, it isn't instant.
Zelle largely fixes those issues, but has its own issues, like a lot of banks not supporting it and/or arbitrarily low send limits.
1. Your employer pays your salary by bank transfer, which requires you to have a conventional bank account.
2. You then want to spend that money, how do you do that?
Debit card? You need the phone app to retrieve the PIN when the bank first sends you the card.
Cash withdrawals in the branch? For amounts less than €10,000, the staff will direct you to the ATMs in the branch. These require an activated debit card to withdraw money, and activating that card requires the phone app.
Manual money transfers in the branch? Once again, for amounts less than €10,000, the staff won't do it - they'll instead direct you to the PCs in the branch. These are just loading the same website you can access on yours, which will ask you to the confirm with a 2FA push notification to log in.
Try another bank? The legacy banks all got the same auditor who advised them that app based 2FA is the easiest way to implement PSD2, and reduce the likelihood they get held liable when customers get scammed, so they all implemented that as the only option. The neobanks of course, are accessed solely by apps.
I've heard 3rd hand of some banks already doing this in i.e. Armenia where a foreigner can come in and open account easily but they block any online access to lock the control of funds in country to make it harder for the FATF psychopaths to find fodder to clamp down on them.
It’s not like the UK sent out a mandate to private banks or any other private industry on this issue. It’s also only one small country of hundreds.
I’d have to question this idea that this is how things “already look.” I can think of very few businesses that I interact with that force me to use an app.
I’d like to know what private businesses are copying the kind of workflows and customer experience you get at the USPS or DMV.
I have had a lot of banks and credit cards, mobile payment apps like Venmo/PayPal in the US and they almost all work on mobile web and desktops.
But I recognize that wealthy western countries didn’t really skip the personal computer like many mobile-first regions have done.