Bank of America SafePass on a Tilt

[gwnorth]

Anyone using BofA's safepass messaging system with a Tilt?  I do not receive the messages, although all other SMS and MMS messages arrive on my phone just fine.  AT&T and the Tilt are officially supported by BofA, and their mobile banking web site works fine for me.  I'm just wondering if I need to call BofA (tomorrow, when their support phones are staffed again) or AT&T support?

TIA, Mike

[chrisy-ann]

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gwnorth wrote:
Anyone using BofA's safepass messaging system with a Tilt?  I do not receive the messages, although all other SMS and MMS messages arrive on my phone just fine.  AT&T and the Tilt are officially supported by BofA, and their mobile banking web site works fine for me.  I'm just wondering if I need to call BofA (tomorrow, when their support phones are staffed again) or AT&T support?

TIA, Mike

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i'd call BOA customer service if it seems like the at&t part is working ok.

i use that feature as well. it's neat. but i don't have a tilt.

Message Edited by chrisy-ann on 05-31-2008 12:30:11 PM

[momchi]

Christy, are you saying that this is device-specific problem? I have a BlackJack(II) and have the same issue - can not receive SafePass text messages. Can you confirm what kind of data/text service you have with AT&T and that you are able to receive those SMS'es?

[momchi]

OK, i just tried it with a different phone (BlackBerry 7105t) with the same AT&T sim card - i don't receive these SMS'es. It does seem to be not dependent on the phone. Christy, can you please let me know what data/plan fetures you have with AT&T (and confirm that you are using SafePass).

[momchi]

Thanks Christy,
but you are on Verizon, I am asking if somebody on AT&T is using it successfully? I was able to use it just fine with T-Mobile the day before I switched... Thank you for your reply though!

[momchi]

Yes, I did. Many times, many hours... I can receive and send text messages (so AT&T are saying it should be working). Bank Of America, also, says, that "AT&T/Cingular" is on the supported list of providers, and the phone (SGH-i617) is also supported (which I don't think is the issue since as I mentioned already I tried with my old phone and did not get anything anyway).

So, at this point, to make the point, I am asking you *all* guys and gals - "IS THERE ANYONE THAT USES B of A's SafePass successfully, on an AT&T wireless plan?"

Thank you, thank you for looking at this...

[gwnorth · Accepted solution]

Well, I called and emailed BofA tech support numerous times, and they were truly useless.

Eventually, my SafePass did start working again (I just tried it periodically until suddenly one day it worked again). I am convinced the problem is with BofA's implementation though.

When you register your device with SafePass, I think BofA's system merely looks up your phone number in the basic public listings and assigns its carrier based on that. Of course, if you then port your number, as I did, to a new service, BofA's system is completely incapable of determining the change in service provider, and so cannot re-assign the proper text message address. Even now, any public database you could search will list my number as being owned by Sprint Spectrum - they, like BofA apparently, have not thought of a means of dealing with number portability.

I ended up having to call BofA tech support, and get SafePass disabled on my account. Then, after a couple of months after porting, I was able to reregister my device and, a few weeks after that, it finally started working again (even when it initially let me reregister my primary device, the confirmation SMS did not go through - that didn't work until just a week or so ago). To what, if any, extent, tech support did anything in the background, I do not know, as they never did "keep me informed" as they promised they would.

So, word to the wise, if you use safepass and ever want to port your cell number to another carrier - FIRST, disable your SafePass settings on your account BEFORE you port. Then, after you port, you will have to call BofA tech support, get them to remove your previous device and try re-registering your new device. It seems that the ONLY way to get their system to link the phone number with the appropriate carrier's SMS address is via the device registration process (ie. their techs seem unable to manually update such information in a clients account profile). Be prepared to wait at least a few months for it all to work again.

P.S. There is no point calling AT&T about SafePass, as they simply have nothing to do with it in any way. If BofA can't update a client's info to include the appropriate SMS address, there's really nothing AT&T can do.

Message Edited by gwnorth on 06-24-2008 08:46:41 AM

Message Edited by gwnorth on 06-24-2008 09:11:55 AM

[HowardIPhone3]

The Bank of America provided me with a solution for this. If you are experiencing this issue send a text message containing the word "HELP" to 73981.

It may take a couple of days for the Bank of America systems to update with the correct wireless carrier.

[jwcaldwell]

Mike,

I havent had any luck signing in to my mobile banking with BOA on my Tilt. Did you have to contact BOA to initially set that up. It wont accept my passwords.

Thanks

Janet