Damus
daniele profile picture
daniele
@dtonon
My father asked me to help him complete an online payment because he was having trouble. I think, and this isn't very nice of me to say, that, as usual, he didn't pay enough attention or messed something up by clicking randomly.
I sit down at the computer, enter the card details, and a blank window pops up for a moment before closing immediately: “There was a problem with the payment.” I suspect there’s an issue with the 3D Secure process.
I switch to a different card; the 3D Secure process notifies me that an SMS with a code has been sent. I receive it, enter it, and am then asked for a confirmation password. I ask my father, but he doesn’t know what that is. A note suggests that the password can be changed in the bank’s online banking portal.
We log in to the portal, where we’re asked to call a toll-free number and enter the provided code.
I find the section for the card, see the “PIN” option, and suspect it might not be the same thing, but just to be safe, I want to verify if the PIN is the same one he uses for ATM withdrawals. To check, I have to go through the phone procedure again. The PIN matches.
I find a cryptic option labeled “check-id”; after a couple of clicks, there’s an option to reset the password, obviously, by going through the usual phone procedure.
I go back to the payment, which has expired in the meantime. I repeat the process, text message, password, and it works!

And they say Bitcoin is a difficult system to manage.

P.S.: Sorry, Dad.
181❤️5😂2💯1🧡1
Cykros · 2w
The difference is that your Dad could call the bank. With Bitcoin, you are your own tech support. Aka an adult.
TheRupertDamnit · 2w
Our primary bank that we use for personal and business accounts recently changed hands. They assured us there would be no hiccups, no bumps, our PINs wouldn't change when we activated our new debit cards, etc. Our account numbers changed, our PINs do not work, we have to order new checks for rent pa...
Constant · 2w
The world is full of this crap (i mean "friction" in general), everywhere. The point is that either we got used to it so don't notice it when we jump through now familiar hoops, or we suffer it because it is just the way things are. But hey, Nostr does not have (fundamentally impossible) key rotati...
Logen · 2w
this is so good. this is the reality of where centralized authority leads us to. it's a slippy slope until people completely 100% GIVE UP on that system.
Leo Wandersleb · 2w
And I was waiting for the "both accounts got emptied". But yeah, it's not like you learn "banking" at 16 and then you know it.