How secure is mobile banking?
Have you ever wondered if it’s really all that safe to entrust your money to an account that can only be accessed via an app? And a start-up, to boot? Here are the answers to your most frequently asked questions:
What does neon do with the money?
Nothing. Your savings aren’t held by neon. Instead, they’re kept in an account with our partner bank, Hypothekarbank Lenzburg. Why? Because we’re all about pairing innovation with stability. And «Hypi» has been a bastion of stability since it was founded in 1868.
What happens if neon goes bankrupt?
Your money will be safe as houses. This is another benefit of our partnership with «Hypi».
Your money is safe with them: one of the reasons for this is that «Hypi» is overseen by Finma, and like every other Swiss bank, it’s covered by the deposit protection scheme. This protects your assets up to 100'000 CHF.
And what happens with my data?
Lots of people think that if something’s digital, and it’s cheap, your data is being sold. And they’re often right. But we think data security is so important that we’ve turned our backs on tons of tracking options – making life harder for our marketing team! That said, they don’t complain either, because they also believe that your trust is the be-all and end-all.
We collect as little data as possible: just as much as we need. We share your personal information (name, address, etc.) with our partner, «Hypi». Like all Swiss bank accounts, they’re subject to certain regulations and processes, such as the KYC (or «know-your-customer») process. The identification procedure is part of this: it serves to ensure that you’re the same person as on your ID document. This procedure is carried out via a video call with a real person, or by automatically comparing a photo of your ID to the one that you inputted into the app. This service is provided for us by Intrum in partnership with the sector leader, IDnow.
We only give this kind of personal data to our other partners if you want them to have it, so you can benefit from special offers, for example. But if that’s the case, we make this crystal-clear and you’re able to actively opt into it.
We use your payment data so we can show you an analysis of your expenditure in the app. And, like every bank, we use this data in anonymised form so we can make statements such as «during lockdown, neon’s customers made fewer card payments, but the average amount spent was higher.
Can neon be hacked?
In theory, anything and everything can be hacked. To stop this from happening, we carry out «penetration tests», which involves us simulating a hacking attack. The result: hackers can’t get their hands on your money, and they can’t access your data either. You can find a detailed article explaining how the test works, and what the outcome was, here.
What about phishing?
We’ve put together an array of information in this article. To start with the good news, it’s pretty hard for neon to be a target for phishing. Why? Because without your phone, nobody can access your account. That’s why mobile banking is often safer than online banking.
What happens if my phone gets stolen?
You can only log in with your fingerprint/face ID or your personal 6-digit login code. As long as nobody’s got their hands on either of those, they won’t be able to log in. (That’s why you shouldn’t use your date of birth or anything like that!) In the worst-case scenario, the thief will be able to see how much you’ve got in your account – but they won’t be able to transfer any of the money. To do that, they’d need a second transfer PIN, with four digits. We’ve deliberately set up a six-digit code and a four-digit one so you’re using two different codes, ensuring your money is even safer.
It’s a pain, but the only thing to do is buy a new phone, download neon and crack on. If you like, you can also request a new login code and choose a new transfer PIN.
And what if my neon Mastercard® gets stolen?
Damn! But, you can freeze/unfreeze your neon card yourself directly in the app. Or, if you don't have internet, give us a call. We’ve got a 24-hour card blocking hotline. You can also order a new card or PIN yourself in the app. We will then send it to your home address. If someone uses your card fraudulently, we’ll be only too happy to help you. Or, as one of our customers put it:
Great customer service
Personal, prompt, friendly customer service.
Just had the comparison of UBS, PostFinance and neon; all my cards were stolen and misused. neon was fastest to help in the telephone helpline and mail replies.
The tone is personal, I had the feeling of communicating with committed people. Also positive - especially in connection with lost cards: I could immediately see on my cell phone that no withdrawals had been made. However, if the phone had also been stolen, that would not have been possible.
As you can see, we’ve put a lot of thought into how we can protect your money to ensure you can rest easy. Still got questions? Write to us at service_at_neon-free.ch.