The card reader things that Natwest etc provide...

[tony_yeboah]

Has anyone got one of those card reader devices from your bank? the ones you use to set up payments etc to people.

you put your card in, put the pin in, then it gives you a number, and then you have to put that onto to the website in order to verify the payment.

does anyone know how on earth they work? how does the reader know what your pin is? and how does the website know what code is on your reader?

its amazing! a clever piece of kit!

[tony_yeboah]

appartently some of the code is calculated by an algorithm, one of the terms of which is the date/time. Both ends know the algorithm and should therefore calculate the same value.

crikey...mad sh*t this!

[Mark]

If any bank website demanded I plug in a card reader in order to use their services I'd cancel the account. Too much hassle! I want to be able to access my accounts from anywhere, without having to carry stuff around with me.

[tony_yeboah]

i totally agree with you, but they say its to add security on your account. not sure about other banks, but u dont need it to log in with natwest

[Dave B]

You mean something like Barclays PINsentry (http://www.barclays.co.uk/pinsentry/)? There's some blurb on how it works on the ever-accurate Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chip_Authentication_Program).

[GridGirl]

Other half has a Barclays pin calculator jobbie and its a right load of rubbish. It doesn't work most of the time. I've seen him use it and I definately don't want one but once you have one I dont think you can go back to not having one if you know what I mean.

Its only like a little calculator Mark, you don't need it to access you account but your do need it if you want to make payments.