@santanderbankgb Password Characters & poor instructions

[Ucumist]

Hi, I am new here. Decided to post my problem because I cannot find any info' at Santander or answers elsewhere. So by posting on here and including words & phrases like characters, symbols, what can I include in my password, what characters are allowed not allowed, how do I create a good Santander password, it may lead others searching to this page.

 

The create / change Password & Security number page at Santander on-line banking does not explain what can be used to create a password of 6 - 20 'Characters'. It says characters but I believe it means letters & numbers.

 

I found their help / FAQ that talked about Passcodes of 8 - 16 characters & Registration number that I presume was the intended info'.

Why don't Santander clearly explain this critical process?

I have included the email I sent to their customer services below.

 

Dear Sir,

 

I am writing to you because I am finding it difficult to create my on-line account.

 

I was sent 2 letters. The first had my ID number and a temporary Password, the second had a temporary Security Number.

 

I attempted to set up my account by following the steps on your web site. It would not accept the password I wanted to use and gave no explanation as to what characters were allowed. I had used some characters like * or $. I then searched your site to see if there was a clear description of what characters could not be used. No where on the choosing new password page, did it say to use letters & numbers only. The term character is described as 'A mark or symbol used in a writing system' in the dictionary and your page says 'use (6 - 20 characters)'.

 

After much googling the web & searching your site I only found this page with any reference to my problem - (not allowed to post link due to forum rules) it was in Online Banking Commitment.

Under section

Changing your security details

It referred to changing Passcode & Registration number.

It said 'A personal Passcode made up only of letters and digits. It must be between 8 and 16 characters long'. (I hope this doesn't indicate that you store these numbers a 'Plain Text' which could be a security problem)

 

So what does it all mean? My letters & your sign in page refer to' Password' & 'Security' numbers.

 

What is a Passcode ? - do you mean Password or is this a different account?

What is a Registration Number ? - do you mean Security Number?

What is a Character ? - do you mean letters & numbers/digits.

Why does it say 8 - 16 characters? - sign in page says 6 - 20 characters. (see definition of the word character above)

 

All this lack of clarity, use of differing words and length of password in your descriptions is very confusing. It is important that descriptions are consistent and well explained on professional security sites, something that is not apparent at Santander.

 

Please can you explain in plain English which of the above is correct and how passwords should be constructed.

[renegadeimp]

I normally made my passwords something like A12eFT47Ecc using lowercase and uppercase plus numbers. To help me remember it i sometimes think of a random name or topic im interested in and create that using upper and lower case, and adding numbers.

 

So if your name was matthew and your DOB was 14/04/78 you could do something like Ma1t404TH78ew

 

 

In my line of work, i have to memorise 14 or so passwords. And most of them change on a weekly basis. Most of those are randomly generated and are borderline impossible to remember. Thats where a nice little app on my smartphone comes in handy