Barclays Mobile PIN Sentry

[doctormann]

My Barclays mobile PIN Sentry - on my Android phone - stopped working for some reason.  The codes produced by the app were not being recognized by the online banking site so I could not log in to online banking.  i could still get in by using my card reader and debit card so I sent Barclays a secure message.

 

Their response was that I should reinstall the app.  OK, can do, but cannot register my phone because the SMS with the registration code never arrives.  My data service is turned on and everything looks correct but no SMS appears so I'm stuck.  I've messaged them again but the response time is long - up to five days at the moment.  Covid delays, i guess.

 

Anyone out there had a similar problem?  if so, how did you solve it?  Is there another way to get the registration code?  I believe that there is supposed to be a way, using the card reader but I don't know what this is.  It's not obvious, to me anyway!

 

Any suggestions gratefully received.

 

 

 

 

 

[userabcd]

I transferred money from Barclays on the 28th May 2020 using pin sentry login and it worked by using a windows PC.

 

Could you not try that and see if it works.

 

Or you could try via say a chrome web browser on android?

Edited May 30, 2020 by userabcd

[doctormann]

2 minutes ago, userabcd said:

I transferred money from Barclays on the 28th May 2020 using pin sentry login and it worked by using a windows PC.

 

Could you not try that and see if it works.

I'm not clear if you used a card reader or the mobile app.

 

I can do a transfer by logging in to online banking with the card reader.  It's the mobile app that stopped working and now I can't reinstall it because the activation code SMS never arrives.

 

Not urgent as long as the card reader still works - but I had one die on me a couple of years ago so I like to have a contingency.  I normally use the mobile app - saves digging the card reader out of the safe!

[userabcd]

34 minutes ago, doctormann said:

I'm not clear if you used a card reader or the mobile app.

 

I can do a transfer by logging in to online banking with the card reader.  It's the mobile app that stopped working and now I can't reinstall it because the activation code SMS never arrives.

 

Not urgent as long as the card reader still works - but I had one die on me a couple of years ago so I like to have a contingency.  I normally use the mobile app - saves digging the card reader out of the safe!

Ah, my apologies for misunderstanding. I am using the physical card reader and pin sentry.

 

All I can think is it hinges on the telephone number to which the sms/text should be received. Is the mobile tel number with the relevant country dialling codes correct. (sometimes that 0 before the mobile number or the country code is a + or 00 which causes a problem)

Edited May 30, 2020 by userabcd

[doctormann]

3 minutes ago, userabcd said:

Ah, my apologies for misunderstanding. I am using the physical card reader and pin sentry.

Yes, the physical card reader works fine, which is OK as long as it keeps working.

 

I'd really like the mobile version to work again but it seems that i just can't receive the activation SMS for some reason.

 

In extremis, i can try to phone Barclays but that is seldom a happy experience.  Waiting for ever while listening to some cr*p music and then eventually ending up talking to someone in Mumbai who knows nothing is not my idea of fun!

 

[KhunBENQ]

1 hour ago, doctormann said:

I believe that there is supposed to be a way, using the card reader but I don't know what this is.

Unfortunately a new registration seems to involve card reader AND SMS to mobile phone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9qnD2z6smM

 

What format did you use for the Thai mobile number?

(assume number is 0812345678)

0066812345678

?
I did some search on the Barclays site about SMS to foreign country to no avail.

[KhunBENQ]

Just seen there is also a method without the card reader but still no hint on format of phone number.

https://www.barclays.co.uk/help/mobile-banking/registration/how-to/

[doctormann]

3 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

Unfortunately a new registration seems to involve card reader AND SMS to mobile phone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9qnD2z6smM

 

What format did you use for the Thai mobile number?

(assume number is 0812345678)

0066812345678

?
I did some search on the Barclays site about SMS to foreign country to no avail.

The registration procedure seems happy to accept + as the international access code then, omitting the zero, add the relevant phone number.  So, in my case +66xxxxxxxx.  The registration confirms that an SMS has been sent - but it gets lost somewhere.

 

I looked at the link that you provided - thanks - but you still end up needing the SMS activation code.

 

I'm 90% through the registration and I'm stuck so I think I'll just try getting the code over the phone.

 

 

[Harveyboy]

44 minutes ago, doctormann said:

Yes, the physical card reader works fine, which is OK as long as it keeps working.

 

I'd really like the mobile version to work again but it seems that i just can't receive the activation SMS for some reason.

 

In extremis, i can try to phone Barclays but that is seldom a happy experience.  Waiting for ever while listening to some cr*p music and then eventually ending up talking to someone in Mumbai who knows nothing is not my idea of fun!

 

had all that mate 1 hour of Vivaldi and an hour of talking to someone who couldn't understand a word i said 2 hours gone huge phone bill...even tho i was told local call costs  still nothing sorted Barclays are a waste of time 

[doctormann]

And I just tried phoning them.

 

Guess what, because of Covid their customer service dept is closed.

Should be open Monday so I'll try then.

[KhunBENQ]

As I understand the mobile number is only needed to receive that SMS?

No more use of the mobile phone network with the pinsentry app (all via internet)?

 

So one last straw: could you use a friend/family member in the UK (UK mobile) to receive the SMS?

You could connect via text/video chat e.g.

I don't see a reason why a proxy would not work here.

Edited May 30, 2020 by KhunBENQ

[doctormann]

1 minute ago, KhunBENQ said:

As I understand the mobile number is only needed to receive that SMS?

No more use of the mobile phone network with the pinsentry app (all via internet)?

 

So one last straw: could you use a friend/family member in the UK (UK mobile) to receive the SMS?

You could connect via text/video chat e.g.

I don't see a reason why a proxy would not work here.

Not sure.  You certainly don't need the data service turned on to use the app once it's been registered.

 

If all else fails I'll look into your suggestion.

[KhunBENQ]

10 minutes ago, doctormann said:

You certainly don't need the data service turned on to use the app once it's been registered.

? "Data service" would mean internet connection to me ?

Of course you don't need mobile data if you are connected via WiFi at home.

But all comparable systems (I have that from two German banks) go via internet only.

I am sure I could even remove the SIM and it would still work.

No data transferred via the mobile phone network.

[doctormann]

Not sure about that.  I've had instances in the past where I've definitely needed mobile data service turned on to receive international SMS.  I thought that this might have been the problem with Barclays but it seems to make no difference.  Wifi is on, of course, and my internet is working normally.

[stubuzz]

I had to register my app on a UK mobile number. I got a UK sim from eBay.

I also got a new card reader delivered from eBay.

Edited May 30, 2020 by stubuzz

[doctormann]

7 minutes ago, stubuzz said:

I had to register my app on a UK mobile number. I got a UK sim from eBay.

I also got a new card reader delivered from eBay.

i do actually have a UK SIM from GiffGaff - hardly ever used - so maybe I'll try that.

 

Previously though, I registered the Barclays app on my normal AIS SIM.  Maybe something has changed.  i know that the Barclays app gets updated quite regularly on Android.

[doctormann]

Update.

 

I managed to register the app using my GiffGaff UK SIM - SMS sent to that number arrived within seconds so it seems that there was a problem with Barclays sending SMS to AIS.

 

Unfortunately, I still can't log into online banking using the app!

 

I'm getting a 40706 error.  No idea what that is and nothing relevant that I can find on the web.  I suspect that it stems from when the app was broken and was giving incorrect codes.  I did try several times with the different codes that it produced so maybe there's a limit on the number of tries before the system locks you out.

 

Nothing that I can do now until Monday, when i might be able to talk to someone at Barclays.

 

 

 

 

I