I have never tried to use internet banking or make payments over VPN before. I am planning to buy something from a website using my debit card info and I am worried that my bank (HSBC) in the UK will block a payment made over one of the free ProtonVPN connections. Does anyone know how banks handle this? Is it likely that my payment and/or account will be blocked if I try this? Any advice from people with experience making payments via the free ProtonVPN connections will be greatly appreciated
Use a plausible server. If you live in the UK, choose a server in the UK. Don’t choose one in Argentina. In the US I’ve even have had problems with authentication when using a server in a distant state.
Many banks and retailers make note of the IP ususally associated with you. Myself, if I login into my bank from my usual server, no problem. But if I login in from a server which they haven’t seen before, they make me answer a load of security questions and then send a security code to my phone.
Amazon will email saying they’ve noticed unusual activity if I login from an oddball server.
I’m a yank and have never had such an issue. I use the subscription based app . Although i simply don’t use debit cards in that manner and use a credit card for the added security it gives should anything go amiss with a retailer. That said, i have to at times enter correct address from where it thinks i am. It’d probably still be wise to have a UK based vpn location.
Thank you for the advice. Unfortunately, there is no free UK server. My nearest location is the Netherlands.
As far as using the same server each time goes, this will be my first online purchase with this bank account.
I don’t mind extra security questions and sms 2fa as I don’t often make online payments, but I would rather avoid being forced to ring the fraud department and getting grilled for using a VPN. It sounds like the only way to find out is through trial and error though
My bank (ETrade in USA) told me that VPN use might cause security alerts UNLESS I had enabled 2FA on my bank account. I do have 2FA enabled, routinely use a VPN, no problems.
