Somewhere, near the bottom hidden under a lot of other mumbo jumbo, probably in minute text with obscure wording, is an option to "not this time, take me to my account".

I agree though, it doesn't seem right. I personally don't ever take the bank up on offers simply because I bank with them. Since I bank with them I do nothing else with them. Keeping accounts limited to specific and separate tasks is a good security practice imo.

Don't reward the spammers!

Hijacking this thread to include my bank rant...

<rant>
My bank has a char limit on passwords, 6-8 chars is all they allow.

I have sent them about 5 emails complaining about their "security"

Why they won't send out cheap card readers to people who want online banking I can't grasp. I know some banks do and they require that you swipe your card before you can login.

I know that wouldn't help with cloned cards but at least someone would have to clone the card to even get as far as a password screen, as it is now you can just fish that login screen which takes a card number and a password, and with an 6-8 char limit it wouldn't be that hard.

There was a recommendation a long time ago that banks implement a 2 tiered auth system.

Tier 1 they know something (ie, password)

Tier 2 they have something (ie, physical card)

Expect most banks are happy to implement a faux 2 tier system where you know something (ie, password) and you know something else (ie, mother's maiden name, street you grew up on, first pet's name)

</end rant>

However once I login the only thing I get sometimes other than my account overview is an offer by the bank that I can skip, not a popup though, just a screen between the login and my overview, usually something about new interest rates, or some new service they provide.

If they were serving me ads I would be very annoyed.

not this time, take me to my account

There's a close X, but no option to "knock this stuff off FOREVER." :-)

faux 2 tier system

Right, it's called "multifactor authentication" and this bank uses it. It's a captcha on the username screen, then two secret questions, then the password. No problem with that . . . just an annoyance to see a pop up in a "private" location. A bit like waving a new brand of TP through the window while I'm in the loo. :-P

Yes--I see these occasionally with my bank. They are a bit annoying, but banks are businesses looking to maximize like most other businesses.

I guess the "ads/sweepstakes/signup-for-another-account" promos are placed behind log-in screens because trying to sell to current customers makes sense--whereas trying to lure new customers is a bit more difficult.