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Is digital banking secure?

When it comes to banking digitally, either on your computer or mobile phone, one of the first things you may be concerned about is security.

There's a range of things that banks do to make sure your money is safe. Understanding what checks are in place can help give you peace of mind.

Here are a few features that make digital banking with us secure.

Ways to log on safely

Your Mobile Banking PIN or physical Secure Key gives you extra protection against fraud.

It generates a temporary security code to make sure only you can access your accounts on the HSBC UK Mobile Banking app and online.

For mobile banking, you can also use fingerprint or face recognition to log on quickly and securely, depending on what device you have.

How to freeze and unfreeze your card

If you’re worried you’ve lost your card or something suspicious is happening with it, you can put a temporary freeze on it. You can do this at any time on our mobile app or through online banking. Then if the card turns up, you can unfreeze the card instantly.

You can also report your card as lost or stolen. This allows you quickly to stop your card from being used and order a replacement straight away.

Check you're paying the right person

We use a name checking service called Confirmation of Payee (CoP). It aims to protect you against authorised push payment scams and reduce the number of payments which are made by mistake.

It lets you check you’re paying the right person or business when you:

  • Make a one-off payment
  • Set up a new regular payment
  • Amend an existing payment

That way, you can see if the name matches who they say they are.

On rare occasions, there may be payments from your current or savings accounts that you didn’t authorise. We’ll refund the amount of the unauthorised transaction and any resulting charges and interest, as long as you’ve kept your security details safe.