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Photo TAN (Optical TAN process)

In addi­tion to your pass­word, the Photo TAN process also uses a smart­phone app or a spe­cific reader. These are employed to record and encrypt optical infor­ma­tion dis­played on your log-in page.

Please note the fol­lowing when using Photo TAN:

  • Care­fully check all data to be signed off before con­firming any transaction.
  • Store your access details sep­a­rately from your Photo TAN reader.
  • Follow all secu­rity rec­om­men­da­tions applic­able to smart­phones.
  • Do not make any written notes of your pass­words and PINs, unless you can keep such notes under lock and key.
  • Only ever enter your ID number and your pass­word or your PIN and your Photo TAN code into the log-in tem­plate of your e-banking facility.

Oper­ating principle

Once you enter your ID number and pass­word or PIN into your e-banking portal, the finan­cial insti­tu­tion will transmit a TAN in the shape of a static, coloured mosaic (hence the name “Photo TAN”) to your screen. This is recorded using your smart­phone camera or a ded­i­cated reader, and then decoded. The access code it con­tains is then dis­played on your screen.

Some­times, poten­tially risky trans­ac­tions such as con­spic­uous remit­tances have to be con­firmed via this Photo TAN pro­ce­dure, too. In addi­tion to a ver­i­fi­ca­tion code, this process can also be used to transfer detailed trans­ac­tion data.

This process pro­tects against attacks which manip­u­late trans­ac­tions (e. g. man-in-the-browser attacks), for as long as bank cus­tomers check the trans­ac­tion data shown on their dis­play for their accu­racy before confirming.

What else would you like to learn about security when e-banking?

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Basic course

Find out about cur­rent Internet threats and some easy pro­tec­tive mea­sures, and how to securely use e-banking.

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Online course mobile banking/payments

Find out about mobile banking, mobile pay­ments and how to securely use these apps.

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Online course for the under-30s

Learn how to use your smart­phone securely. Next to basics, we will show you what you should know about social media, clouds, mobile banking and mobile payments.

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Is your organ­i­sa­tion suf­fi­ciently secure? Learn which mea­sures you can take to sig­nif­i­cantly strengthen your organisation’s IT security.

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