The debit/credit cards here have a microchip implanted in them. Even when you would normally swipe your card at a store, here you stick the card into the machine so it can read the microchip. There is a magnetic strip on the card, but I don't know where it would be used here. Every store has the insert-type machines that also have the strip readers. Maybe it's for foreigners... because that's what we were using until we got our bank cards here.
Anyway, to use online banking here, you must first type in that long-awaited personnumber discussed a few weeks ago. Once there, this is the screen you see:
As you can see, there are two codes to be entered, in addition to a provided 8-digit code. Here's where the fun begins! You first type in a 4-digit password, which is different than your pin number. This password is used exclusively for logging on to the online bank system. Then you use the control code - the 8 digit number provided - to retrieve the response code from your handy security box.
The security box has a slot in the top where you slide your credit card so the microchip can be read. You then type in the control code from the website and your card code - aka pin number - and the security box gives you the response code to type into the last box on the screen. Then you have full access to your online account, which functions just like those in the US.
The security box is also used when making online purchases. A numerical signature/approval of sorts is required and to do that requires another series of steps like getting access to your online account. This type of security box is apparently used in China and other European countries as well, and we're grateful for helpful friends from Tyson's lab who taught us how to use the technology =)
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