this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2026
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Privacy
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I ran various custom ROM's for years on a FairPhone3+. It was great right up until the day all my banking apps stopped working. Banking app incompatibility is NOT the fault of GrapheneOS (or any other custom ROM) dev's at all . . . but IMO this is the real problem today with any alternative mobile OS. Privacy vs. banking convenience. And yes, YMMV as some of them do work . . and mine did as well . . right up until the day they didn't.
Just use a web browser.
People act like they can't live without these apps, which are often just a repackaged website anyway.
Nice idea in theory . . . but here in the UK, increasingly customers are being left with little other choice. Between banking apps using push messages to verify credit/debit card transactions, closing of physical branches and requiring authentication via the app to log into the website . . . not using their app is becoming more and more difficult every day.
My bank requires using a card reader for ID if you use a web browser. It can be done but it means carrying three physical things (phone, bank card, bank card reader) instead of one (phone).
So it is a minor inconvenience?
Also it would be an option to switch banks.
My point is that there is an actual difference. It's not just a repackaged web app, and has actual drawbacks.
My personal plan is to move as much of my day to day stuff to a Mecha Comet, and also carry my Fairphone running Android for whatever proprietary crap that the world wants me to run. It's two devices, but hopefully will minimize exposure to big tech.
pushTAN?
I would use banking through the browser for sure, but to be able to login on the browser i can only receive the pin through the app. not only this ,but everytime i make a purchase online I have to authorize the transaction through the app. There is no other way, they don't even offer a physical token anymore.
If you don't mind disclosing, what bank is that?
It's the Romanian Commercial Bank founded to take over the commercial banking operations of the National Bank of Romania in 1990.
Sounds like it's time to find a new bank then.
Do banking exclusively through the online portals? For me, if that means using my desktop or a laptop for banking, that's what I do, because I will not install a banking app on my phone.
Switch banks. That's what I did. I had a bank that required an app to use them as well before I decided that I cared about my privacy and wanted more of it. And when I found out that my bank wouldn't let me do things, I switched banks. Because fuck them.
Generally it's neobanks that cause the most problems. If you're using older banks that have been around for quite a long time, they don't have nearly the technology, so are less likely to have this occur. In the United States, an example of this might be something like Wells Fargo or Discover or something like that, whereas one of these neobanks that would cause problems would be like chime.
Generally, stay away from thin tech and stay with actual banks. You might also look at credit unions. My local credit union is really good, and has a good online website, and has an app as well, but doesn't require it at all.
I use several banks and several credit unions, and the only thing I can't do with a laptop is deposit checks (which is getting pretty rare).
FinTech products like PayPal, Venmo, Cash.app, BlueBird and such often require a phone app, but aren't regulated banks, and are best avoided when possible.
Same here, I might end up with a check in my hands like once per year, and so I have to make like one single trip to my credit union every single year or whatever to deposit that check, and that's it.
I might make a post about banks that don't require apps or collect data. Mine is stupid about it if you don't opt out. I'm so sick of every business normalizing this.
my condolences are you euro?
I didn't know they rolled like that, good to know for the purposes of learning about banking & surveillance systems. haven't seen it mentioned on GOS forums
Nice idea in theory . . . but here in the UK, increasingly customers are being left with little other choice. Between banking apps using push messages to verify credit/debit card transactions, closing of physical branches and requiring authentication via the app to log into the website . . . not using their app is becoming more and more difficult every day.
What services do they have for senior citizens? Because they are the most likely ones to not want to use technology. You can probably piggyback on what they use.
They are offering free classes for seniors to teach them how to use the apps.
https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/35627/lloyds-to-provide-free-digital-skills-training-and-tablets-for-elderly-customers
Okay, in that case, I would just buy a very cheap second device and have your primary one using a privacy system such as graphene and then use a secondary one that you never turn on except for doing that kind of stuff.
That way, at least your primary system is isolated from the rootkit that is things like Google Play Services.
Exactly! I’d love to switch, but I rely on my banking apps too much. That’s a dealbreaker for me as well.
Nfc payments keep me chained. I guess i can get a second phone just for setting up a watch, but i don't want a watch. So i live by not using the default launcher and a vpn. I'm working to change my email provider slowly