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Two UK banks now allowing mobile app login using Touch ID

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Two UK banks–Royal Bank of Scotland and Nat West–are now allowing customers to login to their mobile banking apps using Touch ID, reports the BBC. The updated RBS app is expected to hit today, with the Nat West one following tomorrow.

RBS and NatWest customers must activate the feature with their security information, but would only need to use Apple’s Touch ID thereafter.

The banks–owned by the same parent company–said that use of Touch ID is subject to a number of security safeguards … 

First, customers choose whether or not to activate fingerprint login, and have to use their existing login details to do so. Second, Touch ID would be disabled after three failed attempts, customers having to use their security details to re-enable the option. Third, transaction and functionality limits apply, requiring manual login for some operations.

Around 880,000 customers currently use the iOS apps on phones equipped with Touch ID sensors, said the banks.

It was rumored yesterday that the upcoming 12-inch Retina MacBook Air will be the first Mac to feature a Touch ID sensor, with plans also to include them in the Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad.

Update: One of our readers notes in the comments that Touch ID functionality was silently added to his app, without an App Store update – thanks, Joe.

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Comments

  1. luckydcxx - 9 years ago

    I really need Chase to update their app for this. It’s amazing using Touch ID instead of a password.

  2. j0nny - 9 years ago

    I updated to latest version (3.11.0) of the RBS app yesterday (17 Feb) on an iPhone 6 (with TouchID enabled). No sign of TouchID in the update notes nor in the app itself.

    • Ben Lovejoy - 9 years ago

      Oddly, they appear to be releasing two updates in quick succession. Yesterday’s version says “we have made some behind the scenes changes to the iPhone app in preparation for some exciting new features” which presumably includes Touch ID.

  3. danbridgland - 9 years ago

    This feature doesn’t seem to be live in the most recent update (yesterday). Any word on when it’s due?

  4. Tomorrow according to @NatWest_Help on twitter. Also asked about Apple Pay – “We haven’t got any plans for Apple Pay yet, but you never know what the future might hold”

  5. Belgium ING allows it also

  6. StarBr33z3 (@StarBr33ze) - 9 years ago

    Sberbank (Russia) mobile app allows to authorize using TouchID since Oct’14. Works like a charm.

  7. jamesosborne99 - 9 years ago

    If Natwest/RBS are incorporating Touch ID into their app surely they have confidence in the system. Therefore surely they would want to be one of the banks who support Apple pay in the UK in the future?

  8. I like Touch ID and all, but I think it’s in app integration is a little rough. The animations aren’t smooth, it launches late, and if I open the wrong app by chance I can’t close it while the Touch ID prompt is open.

    It’d be nice to allow any touch of the sensor to be scanned and verified. Then users could place time lockouts of 1 to 5 minutes since last scan – meaning apps just opened as if they weren’t locked by password at all. Of course, still requiring a individual scan for Apple Pay or other payments like iTunes would be necessary.

  9. mobileseeks - 9 years ago

    I don’t understand why every company with an app doesn’t do this. I was just trying to log into eBay and couldn’t remember the password offhand so I ended up not buying an item there and went to Amazon instead. I don’t use eBay all the time so I don’t remember the exact password, but if I could use touchID I’d use more apps. It isn’t just shopping apps either, but also just regular apps that I don’t remember passwords for (downside of using unique passwords for every service).

  10. Just to say, this isn’t coming through as an App Store update… it’s an update within the App… it just appeared for me. No need to update. Works a treat – tad clunky as OP has mentioned, but nice to have.

  11. eliz (@el_iz_) - 9 years ago

    So does IsBank in Turkey

  12. Riccardo Galbiati - 9 years ago

    Just to notify that Westpac Banking Corp in Australia has enabled the same feature in its app since over a week now…great experience

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Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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