Extra online security explained

Strong Customer Authentication

  • Strong Customer Authentication

    By law all banks need to have an extra layer of security for their customers. This is called 'Strong Customer Authentication'. For you, it means more protection when you’re shopping and banking online. It involves extra checks to prove it’s really you and help keep you safer from online fraud.

  • Extra checks

    An extra layer of security makes it harder for fraudsters to target your online accounts. All banks have to do these extra checks.

  • More secure shopping and banking online

    Most people use passwords as way of proving it’s them. Sadly, passwords can be guessed or stolen by fraudsters. So we’ve added a second layer of security to check it’s really you, and make it harder for anyone else to. There are three ways you can verify yourself:

    1. “Something you know” - this is a piece of secret information that only you know, like your password.
    2. “Something you have” - this is a device you own, like your mobile phone.
    3. “Something you are” - this is something that is unique to you, like your fingerprint.

    You need to provide two of these three ways to verify it’s you. This is called 'two-factor authentication'.

  • Your phone number

    No. Apart from texting passcodes to your mobile or calling you to verify yourself, we’ll only ever use your number for what you’ve already given us permission to. This includes things like your marketing preferences and mobile alerts.

    It’s very important that we have your phone number. Find out how to update your phone number online. Or you can visit your local branch or call us.

  • Opting out

    There’s no way to opt out of SCA. Strong Customer Authentication has been introduced across all banks in the UK. The extra checks are here to protect you and keep your money safe when you're shopping online.

How the checks work

Problems with the extra checks

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Further help with payments

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Further help with payments

Understand regular payments, share your bank details or pay in a cheque on your phone.

Read our guides