Pasting passwords in Apps - Not allowed

jimpm

My bank recently thought it was a good idea to remove the ability to Paste into the password field when logging in to their app, well that's according to a reviewer on the Apple App Store (and pretty much confirmed when I emailed the bank).

How can a bank think it's More secure to disallow pasting into the password field? I emailed them again telling them that I use 1Password to copy-paste my password so I can use a More Secure, Unique password.

Needless to say, I am very upset by this. Fifth Third Bank should have their heads examined. They already limit the password to about 12 alpha-numeric characters.. no symbols. If it were up to me, my bank password would be at least 20-30 characters, mixed with symbols, etc.

So... Question, aside from not updating their app to this newer version, or using Password123 as my password, what else can be done? Maybe if everyone bombards 53.com and tell them they are being unwise.......

Ben

Hi @jimpm,

We have a recent article on exactly this subject that you may find interesting:
https://blog.agilebits.com/2015/03/23/an-open-letter-to-banks/

Thanks!

Ben

jimpm

Thanks for the link.
The bank Forced me to update the app. My brother was already using the newer version and said he didn't have any pasting problems -- turns out I didn't either. My initial response we based upon an app reviewers comments, and me contacting the bank's customer support (apparently they were clueless).
So, paste works - that's good. Only problem, pasting doesn't trigger the event to make the Login Button enabled, so I have to either delete a character from the username or password or manually enter the username to get it to recognize that there's something in the input fields... I can live with that.

Ben

Thanks for the update! Not ideal I suppose but glad to hear you've found a way to make it work.

jimpm

I am pleased to say, my bank has incorporated password managers into their login (including 1Password of course). Every app should tap into the power of using a password manager! It makes things so much easier. Very pleased. :)

Ben

Excellent, @jimpm! Thanks for the update. Agreed, integration directly into the app is the way to go. Hopefully more banks will pick up on the trend.

Ben