For those who have a online checking account the day of the revolution has arrived. On September 14, a new European directive came into force (the PSD2, Payment services directive 2) which introduces a series of news on digital payments, with the aim of making them safer and more transparent.
FROM THE KEY (TOKEN)…
From the point of view of account holders, the most relevant innovation concerns thehome banking. To access and manage the various services you will no longer be able to use the old digital key (slang, token), the small device provided by the banks themselves that provided temporary passwords at the request of users.
…TO THE SMARTPHONE (DIGITAL TOKEN)
From today, instead of the key it is mandatory to use the smartphone (therefore we speak of mobile tokens). Basically, when it is necessary to authenticate the user to authorize any operation – from bank transfer to phone top-up – the disposable pin or password will be generated by an app that can be downloaded to the smartphone, or sent by the credit institution to the customer via text message.
BECAUSE IT'S SAFER
Doing so assumes that the level of security increases, because normally the phones are themselves protected by pin, password or recognition of biometric data such as fingerprint or face scan. Attention: the procedure via smartphone becomes the only possible one, regardless of the device used to access thehome banking (computer, tablet or smartphone itself).
MANY BANKS HAVE ALREADY CHANGED THE SYSTEM
It's actually about a change already introduced by many banks (the directive is from 2015), but which is now being extended to all institutions, except for some exceptions granted by Bank of Italy.
THOSE WHO DO NOT COMPLY PAY MORE
In reality, in some cases the old key could still be used, but it will be discouraged with additional costs and will be joined by other more modern and secure systems. Users who do not have a smartphone capable of supporting the new apps may also have to pay more.
