ABSA SureCheck Roaming

[Dragonlord]

Hi Everyone

 

I will be moving to Australia in a few weeks and I have a question about the SureCheck feature that Absa Internet Banking uses.

 

Absa uses SureCheck to send a notification to your phone when you have to confirm a transaction and it is different to an SMS. It uses some kind of USSD menu as far as I understand.

 

Has anyone been able to successfully receive SureCheck notifications from ABSA after arriving in Australia?

[Dragonlord]

I finally have an answer to my question after arriving in Australia around a week ago.

 

SureCheck notifications work perfectly in Australia. My phone is roaming on Vodafone when I receive them. Other USSD codes such as for checking you balance also work perfectly.

 

I did not need to enable roaming on my prepaid MTN sim card to get everything to work perfectly here but I believe it is different for contract sims.

[ChrisH]

I don't know what the Nedbank or Standard Bank mechanisms are so they are excluded from my opinion.

 

I reckon Capitec or FNB are your best bets when you leave the country.  FNB always sends OTP's to your mobile and SMS, but they also send a push message to your FNB app.

 

My uncle banks with Absa, but they live in Saudi Arabia.  As far as I recall he had to get them to disable the surecheck option on his account.  This is not an option as far as I'm concerned as that means you've removed your second line of defence.

[ChrisH]

I don't think USSD codes work internationally.  

[FingersCrossed]

Yeah I agree with @ChrisH

 

I had a look at the MTN website to see if I can find some information for you and this is what I found:

 

Can I use USSD while roaming?

 

• MTN Roaming customers will not always be able to use the USSD service as some GSM networks do not support USSD as a bearer. It is therefore advisable to check the country you intend visiting to see whether the MTN partner network operator supports USSD.

Can USSD work on another network?

• USSD is network dependent; therefore services offered on the MTN network cannot be accessed by Vodacom or Cell C subscribers.

https://www.mtn.co.za/everyday_services/useful_extras/Pages/ussd.aspx

 

So it looks like it is dependent on the mobile network in Australia - so to be safe I suggest you look trying to get ABSA to send the notifications via email rather.

 

 

[Dragonlord]

Thank you for your reply FingersCrossed. It looks like I will have to try to either get an answer from ABSA or ask them to enable the email option for me.

 

I want to try it myself when I get to Australia first and see if it works before asking ABSA to change my notification method to email. Maybe then I will have an answer for anyone else who comes across the problem.

[RedPanda]

I used the banking app with Capitec while in RSA, but switched to the key chain before we came over, and that works fine. Do you know if ABSA have a similar option? [the keyring generates a code when pressed, so you use that instead of an OTP or similar]

[FingersCrossed]

I think i might need to move to FNB before I move over. I checked the standard bank website this morning and couldn't see any other options.  I really like that idea of the key chain.

[ChrisH]

I would try to avoid a physical device, it works well until something goes wrong with it or you lose it.  Then you can't transact until physically collecting a new one from a branch.

[Dragonlord]

Thanks ChrisH for your answer. I think if your uncle had to disable SureCheck then I will probably have to do the same thing.

 

I like your idea of opening an FNB account because it is easy enough to open a new account and then I will have that option available.