Leading bank Santander has launched a new mobile banking service in new app update, offering users blurring protection after a recent report found £1.8 million was lost from customers just last year
Santander has launched a new service on its mobile banking app to protect customers from scammers and frauds. Its blurring service promising to block sly eyes from spying your accounts.
As part of its most recent update to its OneApp banking app, Santander’s new technology automatically blurs a person’s mobile screen and averts users from performing any banking where screen sharing is detected on their device.
Available to download on IOS now1, this new development includes new screen sharing detection technology too. It comes after news of a woman claiming evil ‘scammers tried to trick me out of £1,600 but four words gave the game away’.
Data from Santander reports that over £1.8 million was stolen from customers in 2024. The method? Scams which utilised remote access and screen sharing technology to enter accounts and confirm personal information.
The bank shares that customers can be regularly contacted at random, via phone call, email or text – even Whatsapp. These ‘call-outs’ can be attempt a range of methods, from offering an opportunity to invest to faking a technical warning.
Scammers are skilled in persuading targets to download legitimate screen sharing software, like AnyDesk or Teamviewer, and gaining access to mobile screens and GDPR and passwords, such as mobile banking credentials.
Chris Ainsley, Head of Fraud Strategy at Santander UK, said: “As technology advances, so do scammers. We have a range of specific warnings for customers, but these criminals are clever and will talk their way into accessing a customer’s personal information.
“Our latest development catches the social engineering in action, protecting customers who are often caught up in a moment of panic.”
Santander had introduced a warning on screen sharing tech being detected on mobile devices previously, however their new technology will allow their account holders to safely carry out their banking, the customers’ mobile banking app now blurring automatically to shield any personal information.
Now live on IOS18, the feature will be available to Android customers in the near future. Additionally, Santander has released an update on changes made to nearly a dozen accounts this week, predicted to impact thousands of savers.
The banking giant shared its reduced interest rates, applied to 11 of its savings accounts this week, on August 11. Amongst the accounts affected is the commonly used Easy Access Saver, which has seen an interest rates drop of 0.1%.