BBVA to require app for signing transactions

BBVA eliminates SMS codes and forces customers to use its app. Forum debate on security, tech dependence, and loss of digital freedom.

English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published

BBVA to require app for signing transactions
BBVA eliminates SMS: the bank forces use of its app

BBVA has notified its customers that SMS codes for signing transactions will be discontinued, forcing all operations to be centralized in its mobile app. This move, aimed at eliminating traditional authentication, has sparked intense debate in the forum about the loss of digital freedom and technological dependence.

What's at stake

  • The core of the debate: The forced transition to the banking app to authorize payments and transfers. The bank justifies the change citing greater security, but for many users it represents an unnecessary technical imposition.
  • The rift: The clash between those who see the app as a necessary improvement over the insecurity of SMS and those who denounce a strategy of control and exclusion for those who reject the dictatorship of the "crapphone".
  • The detail nobody expected: The suspicion that the mandatory use does not respond to cybersecurity criteria, but rather to the inefficiency of bank computer systems or third-party interests in data management and subcontractors.

What forum members say about BBVA also requiring the app to sign transactions

Position A (The critical user): Argues that it is a constant "slap in the face" to the customer. They denounce that banks are pushing us into absolute dependence on the mobile phone, turning the smartphone into a geolocation and control device mandatory for any basic transaction.​
Position B (The pragmatic user): Defends the change as a logical step, calling the SMS system "pathetic". They argue that most customers are incapable of managing secure passwords and that the app is the only way to prevent the bank from collapsing under complaints about forgotten passwords.​
Position C (The technical alternative): Proposes that if security were the real goal, the bank would allow the use of open standards like Google Authenticator instead of forcing the installation of a heavy, opaque app that consumes device resources and memory.​

Why this thread won't leave you indifferent

This debate raises an uncomfortable question: what room for manoeuvre does the citizen have against the banks when access to your own money depends on an app that forces you to have a modern mobile phone? We are witnessing the chronicle of a programmed digital exclusion that affects all those who still value their privacy.


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Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes and reflects third-party opinions. It does not constitute financial or technical advice. The security of banking transactions is the responsibility of the user and the financial institution.

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