My bank's "secure" process handed my details to a stranger's machine.

Thanks! Share it with your friends!

You disliked this video. Thanks for the feedback!

Added 3 months ago by McDan

7 Views

I'm leaving my bank, and the way they wanted me to close my account told me a lot about how they think about security.

Their process: print the document, sign it, scan it, send it back.

The new bank just needed an e-signature.

What the losing bank didn't think through is the trail that paper leaves. The moment you print something with your account number and signature on it, you've handed a copy to a machine you might not control.

That machine could be at a library, a hotel lobby, a print shop, or a friend's laptop.

The bank was adding friction to protect itself, and probably to protect you as well, which is fair. Friction can be a legitimate security control.

But the method they chose introduced new risks right alongside the ones they were trying to prevent.

And digital isn't automatically safer. An e-signature still runs through a vendor and your own device.

So the real question isn't paper versus digital. It's whether you can control the chain.

When someone asks you to run sensitive information through a device you don't fully trust, that's worth a second look and a negotiation with the counterparty on the most trustworthy way that protects everyone.

#cybersecurity #banking #sensitiveinformatiton