Bank of Ireland app: Deadline for people to update phone software extended to July

“I recently received a message from Bank of Ireland stating that after March 31st, Android phones operating on version 10 or older will no longer be supported and that users of such phones may no longer be able to access their accounts,” begins a tetchy mail from a reader called Brendan.

“I contacted Bank of Ireland by phone and was routed to a call centre where I was advised that a Physical Security Key (PSK) would be sent to me to permit ongoing access to my accounts. However, I was informed that they wanted to disconnect my phone from my account as there could not be more that one security device allowed. This was to be implemented immediately thereby leaving me without account access pending arrival of the PSK – 5 to 7 business days,” he continues.

“I had believed that PSK devices were obsolete. AIB had a similar situation but their response was to text an authorisation code when account access was required. This is dreadful, ham-fisted management that apparently is deemed to be reasonable behaviour within the bank. Am I the only person being left high-and-dry?”

Not by a long shot Brendan, not by a long shot.

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For example there is also Geraldine who contacted us on the same day Brendan did.

“I use a version 9 Android and the bank will support only 11 or above and double whammy it’s a Huawei which the bank is not keen on as per their message to customers,” her mail begins.

“It’s not the technical issue which I understand but what obligation does the bank have to its customers, I’m of a mind to try to get through to customer service (by phone!) and demand monthly printed statements as I’m reluctant to replace my two- year old Huawei.”

Then there was Gareth who was also contacted by the bank but had a slightly different take on the correspondence he received.

“I and several friends received a push notification through the BoI app stating that unless I upgraded my phone’s software, the app would cease to work on March 31st,” his mail begins.

“What they intended to communicate was that they were removing support for Android 10 – a reasonable stance since it was released almost five years ago, in September 2019.

“My phone is too new to have ever run this version, and it would have been trivial (and responsible!) for BoI to test what version their app was running on, and save me and others from an unnecessary, incorrect, and momentary panic-inducing notification.

“Of greater concern is that this is a pattern with Irish banks: their communication is so consistently poor that customers begin to ignore it, since it’s often either wrong, or irrelevant, or an information-free attempt to market their latest product. This allows criminals and fraudsters to communicate equally poorly, yet successfully defraud consumers and business out of large amounts of money and savings.

“Perhaps they could also invest some time in becoming a model of good communications with their customers – making them timely, relevant, clear, and verifiable. This would go a long way towards reducing the frequency, cost and impact of fraud, as well as surely making their customers happier.”

We contacted the bank and received the following statement:

“The Bank of Ireland App is only available via the Apple and Google Store. Customers should regularly update to the latest operating system so their device is not at risk from potential vulnerabilities. Many customers already regularly update their devices to the latest operating system (OS) and are using the most up-to-date version of our App. Customers using iOS (Apple) devices using operating systems 14 and lower and Android devices using operating systems 10 and lower just need to update to the latest operating system on their devices. If customers don’t update their device’s operating system they will no longer receive Bank of Ireland App updates from the 31st March. That does not mean that the App will not work in the short-term, but over time it will not work for them as we add/update functionality.”

When it comes to Huawei users, the bank statement noted that the United States brought in changes a number of years ago preventing Huawei from accessing the Android store, meaning that Huawei devices no longer receive Android security patches.

“As a result of this, Huawei customers are unable to get Bank of Ireland App updates. Up to that change, the app was available to Huawei customers – some currently have access to the older version of Bank of Ireland’s app. Huawei device users can still access their online banking via a desktop/laptop and a Physical Security Key device.”

Then on Thursday afternoon the bank announced that it was extending the deadline for people to upgrade their software until July 1st on the basis that it wanted to give people more time to act.