Irish Examiner view: A welcome shot over the bow of the banks

Santander must compensate UK customers after they made it practicably impossible for them to bank without a mobile

The UK's financial watchdog found that Santander had discriminated against customers who couldn't or wouldn't engage with the bank via smartphone. Stock picture

There’s been a pleasing warning shot for all those technocrats who imagine they can simply substitute mobile phones for customer service and oblige us all to comply.

Santander, Europe’s fourth largest bank, has been forced to compensate customers in the UK because they made it virtually impossible to bank with them without using a mobile phone to complete the two-step verification now required for security purposes. 

Britain’s financial ombudsman found this discriminated against people who were housebound or who lived in areas with weak network coverage. Santander was told this was discrimination. 

It’s a useful precedent to study for all companies who want to equate smart handset ownership with the ability to live a full life.