I spent an hour on the phone with the bank today trying to figure out why my daughter couldn’t log into her new bank account. Everyone else’s online access was working fine, including my ability to see into her (joint) account from my own ID.
The tech guy finally suggests we try logging in using someone’s mobile app. Two phone-wielding teenagers are lurking in the living room. There is assorted stalling, but finally IT Boy Young Man is drafted for the job.
I show him the new password we’re trying to enter on the “change password” screen that is our gateway to the new account. (You can’t proceed with the bank-issued password, for obvious reasons. Kindly choose something the lady at the bank doesn’t know.) This is where we keep failing. We fill out the form and nothing happens when we click “continue” but there is no error message either. Just nothing.
ITYM starts to enter the data on the post-it-note I hand him. The new password ends in a question mark.
“I bet it is rejecting your password because it looks like a SQL injection attack,” ITYM says.
Um, okay. That sounds like something you would say, child of mine. “So how about trying the password but without the question mark at the end?”
He tries it. We’re in. I try it on the PC, we’re in.
I helpfully tell the tech guy at the bank what the problem was, since we can’t possibly be the only people ever who accidentally thought up a password that looked to the machine like a deadly weapon.
We’re not convinced the bank guy is taking notes.
I’m thinking: I could have saved an hour if I’d used my in-house guy instead of calling customer service. Also, I’m glad the bank has thought up a few security precautions, even if their help desk team does dwell in ignorance.
