Solving My Online Banking Problem Learning about One-Time Pin

Having finished three days of decision-making and planning, I had a loose end or two to tie up.

First, we had a short meeting with Giovanna to resolve a couple of building contract questions. While we were there, I had her call Banca Marche in San Ginesio to see if there was someone there would could help me with a little issue.

During my October trip, I opened a checking account to hold some euros and to have automatic payments made to the water and electric companies. As part of that, I was set up for online banking and given a password to log in.

Unfortunately, I waited too long to make my first login. It was after a couple of months when I just wanted to check my balance. The password didn’t work.

I wrote to the bank to get a new password, but I was told I had to do it in person. So my bank visit today was to take care of this little issue.

I was expecting that getting this done would be a long process, but I was wrong. There were no customers waiting and I just had to show my passport and sign a form and I was set.

This time, I was going to log in right away. Now, when I tried, it took the password and I was in. Now to check my balance.

I was asked for another code. Hmm. Then I remembered this little device I’d been given in October and which I had luckily brought with me. It’s a small one-time pin generator and I learned that every time I logged in I needed to generate a new pin and enter it. This is certainly secure, but having to use this device was a pain.

An Update

After I returned home, I discovered that there is an iPhone app from Banca Marche that replaces this little device. Now, this whole process seems practical.

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OTP device: Copyright © Our Big Italian Adventure