Bank of Ireland Business banking not working on mac ?

green123

will boi business banking work on a mac ?
somebody told me it wont but i find that hard to believe.
i was told personal banking works but not the business banking
anyone here know anything about this ?

The Black Oil

Not with BoI myself but there's been a thread or two related to this topic.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055323685

Type 17

Note that BoI Business Banking is different than the retail Banking365 offering, which does work on your average Mac.

BoI Business Banking only works on IE6 or IE7 for Windows (it is supposed to be extra-secure, but using IE6 is a strange way to make it so...).

Either way, you can only use BoI Business Banking on a Mac if it is running IE6/7 for Windows - You need to organise Windows on Bootcamp or a suitable emulator (I recommend Sun VirtualBox) or use Crossover.

Mr. Presentable

Windows Version: 2000 Service 4 / XP service Pack 2
Browser Version: Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 2
Java Plug-in/JRE Version: Sun Java 1.5
Access: Local administration rights for digital cert requests
Hardware
Processor Speed: 600MHz or higher
Memory: 128 MB RAM
Free Hard Disk Space: 200 MB
Line Speed: 56 Kbps
Screen Resolution: SVGA 800 x 600

The following will prevent Business On Line from working effectively.

Pop up stoppers e.g. Yahoo and Google toolbar.
No Java on the PC
Using a Browser other than Internet Explorer
Any antispyware or security application that has a popup blocker.

Red Alert

BoI have their security arseways - I don't know why I still trust that bank at all. IE6/IE7 is not any more secure than any other browser.

You may be able to get away with enabling the Developer menu on Safari, which lets you set the outgoing user agent. I use this to access the eFlow site. Often the site will work, but it's just told to check for the browser.

Breezer

The eFlow website checks that you're using IE?

*Adds to eFlow hate list* :pac:

Duck Soup

I'm with BoI Business On Line and when a nice BoI person came round to talk me through the important bits, my first question was: 'Does it work on a Mac?' Her unequivocal answer was no, and she didn't know when it would be.

Perhaps you can use it on IE7 on a Mac, but I just took her word for it and use my girlfriend's PC for paying staff, checking payments etc.

Type 17

Red Alert wrote: »

IE6/IE7 is not any more secure than any other browser.

IE6 is actually less secure than all other browsers currently available - it's very old, and has loads of flaws - some sites around the world won't allow visitors to use it for secure transactions (they get a message telling to upgrade/use another browser).

Red Alert wrote: »

You may be able to get away with enabling the Developer menu on Safari, which lets you set the outgoing user agent. I use this to access the eFlow site. Often the site will work, but it's just told to check for the browser.

It's not that simple, the BoI sites requires stuff* to be present which is only available with Windows/IE, so it's more than the browser type that counts.

*I forget the exact details, but Win-only stuff like ActiveX and similar.

Red Alert

Now the eejit-factor with them is even higher. Why anyone would use ActiveX for a banking site is beyond me.

Type 17

Red Alert wrote: »

Now the eejit-factor with them is even higher. Why anyone would use ActiveX for a banking site is beyond me.

I don't know if they do, I was just naming ActiveX as a typical Win-only protocol, as I haven't got the wife's MacBook to hand with CrossOver and a working version of BoI Business banking on it.

jahalpin

BOI offers a seperate login option for people using Safari for their personal bankng, however, they do not offer this option for their Business Banking.

They probably chose to support IE as it is, by far, the most popular browser in the world. Safari For Windows is not very popular and, in my opinion, pretty crap.

Red Alert

jahalpin wrote: »

BOI offers a seperate login option for people using Safari for their personal bankng, however, they do not offer this option for their Business Banking.

They probably chose to support IE as it is, by far, the most popular browser in the world. Safari For Windows is not very popular and, in my opinion, pretty crap.

It's very easy to make sites that work correctly in all browsers, it's called standards compliance, but a lot of companies hire idiot web developers who forget this :pac:

jahalpin

Red Alert wrote: »

It's very easy to make sites that work correctly in all browsers, it's called standards compliance, but a lot of companies hire idiot web developers who forget this :pac:

The developers have obviously decided to focus their efforts on supporting a browser that is used by the vast majority of internet users

It is the same with DRM services, most suppliers have decided to use DRM that works with the majority of computers ie Microsoft, Apple's DRM is closed and will only work on Macs

Breezer

jahalpin wrote: »

The developers have obviously decided to focus their efforts on supporting a browser that is used by the vast majority of internet users

That's a very bad idea, and this is coming from someone who's worked in web design. Obviously you want to make sure your site works in IE, but to completely ignore Safari or any other major browser is madness from a customer relations perspective. I'm not talking about every wacky fringe browser here, but at a minimum every website should be tested to work perfectly in the latest versions of IE, Firefox, Safari and Opera. Is Firefox even supported?

To support IE 6 over other browsers for "security reasons" is also madness given the browser's track record.

Type 17

Breezer wrote: »

...to completely ignore Safari or any other major browser is madness from a customer relations perspective...at a minimum every website should be tested to work perfectly in the latest versions of IE, Firefox, Safari and Opera. Is Firefox even supported?

To support IE 6 over other browsers for "security reasons" is also madness given the browser's track record.

No, they only support IE 6 or 7 on Windows. No other browser or operating system is supported :rolleyes:

kdaly100

Update on this topic ....

I was speaking to someone late last week and he said (he isn't in BOI) and he had heard that they had plans to sort this out this month (Sep).

I am pretty sure this lack of support has killed a huge part of the market for them. Amazed they haven't sorted.

I have the AIB pack to move as I have a Mac and can't ever access my banking account and haven't moved due to pure laziness but it has been a complete pain.

"Luckily" I only get 4-5 invoices a month but I am starting a service that will increase this with small regular invoicing and I couldn't support BOI if this were to continue .

They have a few weeks left on the clock.

Greentree_uk

believe it when I see it.

kdaly100

to be honest I am a bit jaded about it but giving them this last chance