Santander (UK) workaround for 1Password 7.1 for Mac and 7.2 for Windows

littlebobbytables

Those of in the UK with Santander accounts have been experiencing problems with the second stage, the one that requires a passcode and registration number. Thanks to the contributions of two 1Password users I believe we've found a way of working around the bad filling you're experiencing. Hopefully you find that the following helps.

1. Download this 1PIF (1Password Interchange Format) file with a modified Santander Login item to your Desktop.
2. If you're a Mac user, drag the 1PIF file to the 1Password icon in the macOS dock to import into the active vault. If All Vaults is active it will use the default vault for saving (Vaults tab in 1Password's preferences). If you're a Windows user select the menu option 1Password > Import, select the 1Password Interchange Format (1PIF) option and follow the prompts.
3. Locate the imported Login item, it will be titled Santander and will have a tag with the import date. Enter edit mode.
4. Click the View Saved Form Details button if Mac or Web form details button if Windows to reveal three fields.
5. Replace the placeholder values of each field with your real details and save.

You should find that this single Login item will allow you to fill your username on the first stage and then once you proceed to the second stage that it will correctly fill the passcode and registration number.

Gigabit

Hi,

I tried this and the ID is filled correctly on the first stage of the login but on the second stage, the login gets filled incorrectly as per the image.

littlebobbytables

Hi @Gigabit,

Unfortunately there are two variants on the second page, one where you're asked for a passcode and registration number in two fields and the one you're seeing where you're asked for specific characters from first your password and then your security number. For this variant 1Password currently won't be able to help, instead you will probably find the large-type view useful. Sections describing large type can be found here for Mac and here for Windows. What the large type feature has is an index so you can easily identify a particular character.

Gigabit

Hi @littlebobbytables, when might Santander UK logins be properly supported?

littlebobbytables

Hello @Gigabit,

In terms of the page you're seeing I cannot say if 1Password will ever be able to fill there. While the nth character authentication approach is popular in the UK it isn't something we tend to see many other places and even in the UK it's almost exclusively a bank thing. I'm just not sure if these kind of pages will ever be so widespread that it makes it to the top of the todo list for improvements to filling.

I understand they're a pain, I'm based in the UK myself and I haven't come across a bank yet that doesn't love this kind of security check. At least for now 1Password's ability to help will be limited to offering an index to each character when using large type. It definitely helps, I rely on the feature and it's much better than what I used to do before large type was added. It would be great if 1Password could fill these kind of pages but there are many mountains to conquer before we could realistically allocate time towards these weird pages.

pbryanw

@littlebobbytables - Hi, sorry to resurrect an old thread, but my Mum's login for Santander UK (created from the 1PIF file in the original post), has stopped working for some reason.

Once we get to the page asking for the passcode & reg. number, and select the Santander login in the 1Password extension, only the passcode gets filled in.

I've tried importing the 1PIF into 1Password again, and recreating her login, just in case my Mum had saved over the original by mistake, but the new login still had the problem with filling in the reg. number.

Any help appreciated. My Mum is using 1Password 7.3.684 on Windows 10 x64 1903. Thanks.

littlebobbytables

Hi @pbryanw (and @gidato),

Let me start with I seriously doubt it is anything you or your mum has done or not done and that the issue is with changes in 1Password meaning we've broken filling here again. This seems to be one of those pages where we keep shooting ourselves in the foot.

One of the problems we face with this page is that the only way to reach it is to have a real account but even if I went out today and created a Santander account I know from previous conversations with others I will never be presented with the same page that you're seeing - new users or those that have to reregister now see a completely different page, one of those annoying ones where they ask for three random characters from a password and we have no filling approach for those.

I'm going to create a few Login items and hope that one of them works. When testing though can you be extra careful and if you ever accidentally submit and it doesn't succeed please use copy and paste and ensure you break each failure up with a successful sign-in. If you do this you make sure you never run the risk of getting the account locked and then having to go through the rigmarole to unlock. It happened to me once with another bank, I had to wait until they sent out new details and they weren't fast.

I'm going bold for this first attempt. If it works it will mean a single Login item that is capable of filling both stages. It could be I've been too ambitious considering I can't test and verify but it's worth a gamble I think given this is the best outcome we can hope for.

1. Save this 1PIF (1Password Interchange Format) file to your Desktop. The file should end in .1pif, if you see .txt please alter the filename accordingly.
2. For 1Password for Mac, drag the 1PIF file to the 1Password icon in the macOS dock to import into the active vault. If All Vaults is active it will use the default vault for saving (Vaults tab in 1Password's preferences). For 1Password for Windows select the menu option 1Password > Import and then select the 1Password Interchange Format (1PIF) option and follow the prompts.
3. Locate the imported item, it will have a tag with the import date.
4. Enter edit mode and replace the placeholder values with your real account credentials. The password field at the top will be for your passcode and there is a custom field for the registration number.
5. The item contains direct links for both Santander's personal banking and business banking, feel free to delete one if you don't need it.
6. Save.

Can you try filling and see what you find. It can fill the first stage, that I can test but it's the second that I can't reach and confirm. I hope this works (fingers crossed).

gidato

I've just tried this on 7.3, and not working here either.
I use the business.santander.co.uk and not retail.santander.co.uk but it still required the same passcode and ERN.
This was working in version 6 before I upgraded.

pbryanw

@littlebobbytables - Apologies for not getting back to you sooner. I thought I had my profile set up to notify me when people commented on discussions I'd participated in - but apparently not - sorry, my fault completely.

I'm very happy to report that, with the new 1PIF file you provided above, the first and second stages of the Santander login were both filled successfully by 1Password (during the second stage, the filling of passcode & reg number both worked, with no problems) :+1:

I tested it 3-4 times just to make sure, and also got the Santander site to forget my Mum's ID, so I could test the first stage login again.

Thank you very much for your help & time with this, and I'm sure my Mum will be equally pleased with this outcome :chuffed:

Thanks again, Paul

ag_michaelc

@pbryanw I'm glad to hear that the 1PIF file @littlebobbytables created worked for you. On his behalf, you're very welcome, and thanks for letting us know it worked. :smile:

@gidato just to be clear, did you try using the 1PIF file from this comment?

gidato

Hello @ag_mcarlyle and @littlebobbytables

I tried the first one earlier which did not work. But this one works fine now. Thank you.

David

ag_michaelc

Hi David,

That's splendid. Thanks for confirming for us. :smile:

Cheers!
Michael

Gigabit

Sorry to bump this, @ag_michaelc and @littlebobbytables - but is there any update on supporting Santander with the nth character authentication approach yet?

ag_yaron

Hey @Gigabit ,
There is no way for 1Password to know how to fill these fields since they will be different every time you get to that login page. This is a very annoying and cumbersome step for users everywhere, and when I come across it on a website I usually send an email to the website's support explaining why by no means does it increases the users security and how it makes the entire process an unpleasant experience.

We actually have a template of such a letter you can use for such websites: https://blog.1password.com/an-open-letter-to-banks/
Some of our users already reported success by sending this to their banks, after which the bank listened and altered the login page (mainly Canadian banks, but still).

Other than that 1Password will fill in your username and password, but I'm afraid you will have to manually input these random nth character fields.